876 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 574. 



degree to be given at the end of the course in 

 law or medicine is the bachelor's degree. 



If, however, the doctor's degree is to be 

 given at the end of the course in law or medi- 

 cine, then an entirely reasonable prerequisite, 

 a prerequisite which is justified by the gen- 

 erally approved custom in the case of the 

 Ph.D. degree, would be to require the posses- 

 sion of a bachelor's degree. 



Certain of the smaller colleges that still 

 occasionally give the degree of Ph.D., with- 

 out requiring residence study, have had the 

 enormity of their educational transgressions 

 pointed out to them by those interested in 

 university work. 



Of course, the practise of giving the Ph.D. 

 degree as an honorary degree is not to be de- 

 fended and would receive no encouragement 

 if the conferring of the degree were referred 

 to the teaching force of our colleges, instead 

 of being kept as a prerogative of boards of 

 trustees. 



But there are other offenders against good 

 taste in the matter of conferring degrees be- 

 side the small colleges; and one is tempted to 

 remark that the practise of certain universi- 

 ties of offering as inducements to students to 

 come to them, the opportunity of shorten- 

 ing their combined undergraduate and pro- 

 fessional course, smacks somewhat of the 

 bargain counter. 



Any institution which makes such offer of 

 course pays the price for any advantage which 

 it may gain in increased attendance, in the 

 lower place which it thereby takes in the esti- 

 mation of a critical public as compared with 

 institutions which do not resort to such de- 

 vices to lure students to their halls. 



The one point, however, which I wish to 

 emphasize in the present communication is 

 this: The doctor's degree should be a second 

 degree and should not be given, unless as an 

 honorary title, to any one who has not earned 

 a bachelor's degree. 



This proposition will not be dissented from 

 by any university when the degree of Ph.D. 

 is in question. Why should there be any 

 hesitation then in requiring a bachelor's de- 

 gree as a prerequisite to the M.D. degree? 



At many universities two boys, presenting 

 themselves with the same preparation, may 

 enter on the same date; the one registering in 

 the undergraduate department, the other in 

 the medical school. At the end of four years 

 the one receives the bachelor's degree, the 

 other the doctor's degree. Such anomalous 

 conditions can not be justified on educational 

 grounds. 



It follows that the doctor's degree from a 

 school of medicine which does not make the 

 possession of a bachelor's degree an entrance 

 requirement is, judged by educational stand- 

 ards, on a par with the bachelor's degree. 

 Graduates of such schools, therefore, should 

 be given the degree of bachelor of medicine 

 instead of doctor of medicine. 



I am not arguing that a bachelor's degree 

 in arts or science should be required of every 

 one who proposes to practise medicine. I am 

 not discussing the question of the desirability 

 of having the practitioner a broadly educated 

 man. ISTeither do I propose to discuss the 

 claims made in behalf of certain medical 

 schools that they turn out better trained prac- 

 titioners without requiring a bachelor's degree 

 for entrance than is done by schools which 

 require a bachelor's degree for entrance. 

 Claims of this sort are easily made. The 

 discriminating public will judge the institu- 

 tion by what the graduates prove to be rather 

 than by what they are said to be. 



While I do not think we are ready in this 

 country to say that no one should be permitted 

 to practise medicine until he has gained the 

 degree of M.D., we may and should insist that 

 he be a graduate of a reputable medical school, 

 and that he pass successfully the examination 

 set by the state board of medical examiners. 



It is, perhaps, not too late to insist that the 

 degree M.D. be put on a par with the degree 

 Ph.D., instead of ranking, as it does now, 

 except as it comes from a very small number 

 of medical schools, with the bachelor's degree. 



Edwin Linton., 

 Washington and Jefferson College, 

 October 13, 1905. 



