ON THE INCREASE

Evening Star, Issue 20315, 25 October 1929, Page 3

ON THE INCREASE

DOCTORS 111 ENGLAND One person in every thousand of England’s population is a doctor, according to tho latest figures pub.is.icd of the numerical strength of the medical profession, says the ‘ Daily Mail.’ This strength at the end of last year, ’ shown by extracts from the Medical Register, was 54,25'_. The names added _ during 1928 tota.led 1,C56, whicii is the lowest since 1920. The number of registered practitioners at tne end of 1921 was nearly double the number at tne end of 1881, but the population of Great Britain and Ireland within that period of j forty years only increased by about I 34 per cent. , There is now considerably more than one name in the Medical Register to every 1,000 of population, whereas in the United States or America it is estimated that there is one medical practitioner to every 753 people. Next to the United States, says the * British Medical Journal,’ the British Isles appear to have the highest proportion of practitioners to population. Austria has approximately one doctor to every 900 inhabitants, Switzerland one to 1,135, Denmark one to 1,200. Germany one to 1,320, Hungary one to 1,480, and Czecho-Slovakia one to 1,970. . With respect to medical students, it is stated that in 1919, following tho Armistice, there was an enormous entry of students, but a considerable proportion droppedont of tho running year by year and in 1925 the number of tbo-e who qualified fell short of expectations by nearly 1,000. Since then, tho two figures have approached each other again, and it is reasonable to suppose that the pre-war relationship between them will be resumed. . Comment is. also made on the decision of various London hospitals t<> allow only men students at their schools. This is described as “an unsatisfactory state of affairs, which if appears can only l>e temporary, no un» satisfactory results of co-education having been brought forward by any oi the schools so closing their doors to women. “There is an increasing demand by the public for the services of women doctors in all branches of medicine, and statistics show that tho number of those who make good is as high, if not somewhat higher, than that of their men-colleagues.” There are at nro-ent over . 3,000 women on : the medfc-1 reyrtcr.