THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21120, 22 March 1934, Page 8

THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

I AIM OF UNIVERSITY OF j i OTAGO | , | j STEADY SUM'I.Y DKSIHKD j I | i "The aim of the authorities ot j • the Medical School is to provide, 'a steady stream of young doctors: for the Dominion."' said Sir Lindo , ! Ferguson, Dean of the Faculty of j i Medicine at the University ol j j Otaso. when he was inter- , | viewed by a reporter ot "I he Pres.- j j vesterday morning as he passed I through Christchureh on his journey from Wellington to Dunedm, j regarding a message: recently pub- j lished that there was a consider- j able increase m the number of ! students entering upon the medical : 'course this year. i Sir Lindo said that if too many ; doctors graduated they would not be able to find vacancies and next i vear there was no doubt the num- ' ber of student* going to the school 'would have to be limited. Already: !in the Dominion there v.-as one > 1 medical man to 100U of the populu- j ' tion. and he thought that only m j | America was the percentage largei. j

;The number in the profession was j j certainly greater in propoi tion to j ! the population than in any othei | | part of the Empire. j ! A Competitive Examination ! ; The intermediate examination, I ■ which was taken at the end of the j ' first vear. would have to be made ! competitive and only so man> 'students allowed to commue. Just i after the war, in the early twenties, ithey had huge classes, and it was : impossible to find house surgeons i positions for all who passed so that , I the numbers dropped suddenly. | ! "What we want," said Sir Lincl". I I -is to have a steady supply of 50 j |to 55 students entering the school | ; each year." That numbir could be; {handled properly and given a good training, but if they had a much ! larger number they were not able Ito give the extra number a firstclass training in all the details. At present, in Dunedin, there were 85 students entering on the intermediate, or first, year, but they did not know how many there were in the other centres. If, however, next year, 100 passed the intermediate examination, the medical school would be able to take only 50 or GO. If it was thought that large numbers could be trained that would be unfortunate because a glut was followed by a famine, and the object of the school was to give a steady supply. , If students were weeded out at I 1 the intermediate stage, they would I suffer no hardship. It simply meant ! j that they had had a year's leach- j ! ing in chemistry, physics, and I biology, which was good training } for them. If a student showed no I aptitude for scientific work and was i weeded out. he lost only a year.

Eminent Surgeon's Views Sir Louis Barnett, emeritus professor of surgery at the University of Otago. said that the Medical School aimed at supplying the requirements of New Zealand, and if too many students were allowed to take the medical course, position? would not be available for them in the Dominion. Also, the laboratory accommodation at the school was limited. The Dominion could accommodate only a certain number of new medical practitioners each year, and it would be absurd to argue that the accommodation should be increased. It was therefore necessary that a strict weeding out should be enforced in the school. The best students would have to be selected and the others rejected. Nothing else was possible.