The candidate is
presumed to have received a proper liberal education. A biographical
sketch, an essay on some assigned subject, and written answers to a
series of comprehensive questions in the various branches of
medicine are intended as evidences of such proficiency, the
orthography, grammatical construction, form, and manner of
expression being as carefully scrutinized as accuracy of statement.
An oral examination follows by the several members of the board in
every branch of medicine, and upon such collateral studies as the
candidate may have pursued, with the object not merely of
ascertaining the amount of detailed information he may have learned
by rote, but rather his intelligent comprehension of the fundamental
facts and principles which constitute the science of medicine.
Finally, extemporaneous chemical and pharmaceutic manipulations, the
clinical diagnosis and treatment of actual patients in hospitals,
the adjustment of surgical appliances and apparatus, and the
performance of operations upon the cadaver exhibit his cognizance of
the practical requirements of the healing art, and his ability to
assume its responsibilities, under the emergencies of a career which
sometimes places the issue of life or death upon his unaided
knowledge and skill.
A second examination is required
for passing out of the grade of assistant surgeon, preliminary to
promotion to that of surgeon, and took place formerly five years
subsequent to the first. Recently the interval has been
injudiciously lessened to the completion of two years' service on
board a man-of-war. The examination presupposes a wider practical
acquaintance with the various branches of medicine, particularly in
the special departments which have arisen, and a familiarity with
the current literature of the profession, facilities for which are
now liberally provided by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, under
the administration of its present chief. Dr. Wales. It has been the
custom to allow a period of preparation for this final examination;
but as its object is to ascertain the fitness of the individual for
occasions when his knowledge as a medical or sanitary officer may be
of need, it is manifest that such a preliminary cramming, evidencing
a greater or less ability to memorize facts, is inconsistent with
its real purpose, while it operates unequally upon the members to a
date, under the diverse circumstances of their duty ashore and
afloat. An impromptu examination, while it might not exhibit such
finished results, would furnish a more accurate measure of the real
acquirements of the class examined.
The bureau's
interest in the officer does not cease with his final examination.
Individual research and investgation are encouraged by the supply of
apparatus, instruments, or opportunities required, and by the
publication of essays voluntarily contributed, as well as by the
requirements of annual medical and sanitary reports from every
officer in charge of the medical department of a vessel or a
station, embracing the medical typography, climatology, and hygiene
of every station or place visited, with all attainable information
respecting statistics of disease and its causes, establishments for
the care of the sick, charitable institutions, medical colleges, or
other matters of professional interest.
A medical education, such as
admission into the medical corps of the navy implies, has until
quite lately scarcely been attainable through the ordinary
curriculum of any school in this country; and those who have passed
the examination have been men whose industry, ambition, and thirst
for knowledge, under the guidance of competent preceptors, have
impelled them to seek for themselves that fuller professional
training of which they have felt the need. Happily, a number ot the
leading schools, disregarding possible pecuniary loss from smaller
classes, have begun a reform in medical teaching, which promises to
make their graduates as really " learned in medicine" as the
phraseology of their diplomas implies, and ultimately we may hope
that every reputable college will be compelled to the same
thoroughness of teaching.—Albert L.
Gihon, M.D., Medical Director U. S. N., in
The Boston Med. and Surgical
Reporter.