List of U. S. Navy Medical Officer Exam Applicants 1863

See: An example of a handwritten exam for the Navy Examination Board

       

 

By Norman L. Herman, M.D.

 

PART ONE

 

As you progress through the various Union Navy Medical Department exams below, note how much the educational background varied between applicants.  Their education levels and immaturity are reflected in the thoroughness and content of the answers.  Remember, all of these applicants were born before 1850, were not necessarily well-off financially, and were very young by today's standards for graduate medical professionals. 

 

Many of these young men graduated into the medical profession while still in their early twenties with only two years of formal medical education and basically no surgical experience.  Unlike the medical world in which we live, these individuals were only capable of the most basic medical procedures when entering the Navy or taking this exam.  The answers by the seasoned Assistant Surgeon applicants in the group, show how a few years in the real medical world can enhance the level of practical medical knowledge, not to mention the ability to bone-up on subjects that would be on the next exam.  There are applicants who are fresh out of medical school, some with a few years experience, more than a few with service time in the Navy or Army, and some without a clue.  It's a window into the education and experience of a physician/surgeon who was fresh out of medical school and volunteering to go to war for his country.

 

A word about a bias factor for this group of 93 candidates below.  As you will notice, most of the applicants in this 1863 group were tested at the Charlestown Naval Yard and were from  Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding New England states.  This would account for the heavy presence of Harvard trained applicants.  The same bias prevailed in earlier years (1861) when most testing took place at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and many applicants attended  New York City medical schools, such as Physicians and Surgeons, University of New York Medical Department and Bellevue Hospital Medical School.  And, for the Philadelphia Navy Asylum (1861 - 1862), significant numbers were from Philadelphia or the surrounding areas and were graduates of schools such as University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson Medical College.

tRegarding our sample size compared to that of the Officers of the Continental and US Navy during the Civil War... there were about 650 Navy medical officers (AAS, AS, PAS, Surg, Medical Inspectors and Medical Directors.  This project and study is in possession of 121 Navy surgeons exams.  Based on the data so far, we would tend to hypothesize that the candidates in 1864 & 65 were much the same caliber as the 1863 group (young, green and wet behind the ears).

See: An example of a handwritten exam for the Navy Examination Board

 

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Click on the last names to go to the doctor's full application transcript

Additional information on each doctor in lower columns