UNIVERSITY REFORM

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7141, 31 May 1910, Page 6

UNIVERSITY REFORM

THE MEDICAL COURSE. DOES IT MEET PRESENT DAT REQUIREMENTS? DOCTORS'. OPINIONS. Ono of tho questions that has arisen during the discussion on University reform which iis at present in progress in the columns of the "New Zealand Times" is: "Does the medical course- provided by the Xfw Zealand University fully meet present day requirements?" The question was put to several leading medical nun in Wellington by reporters of the "New Zealand Times" yesterday, the answers given being such as to indicate that, in one respect at lcaest, some considerable improvement may with advantage bo made. LOST MATERIAL. "The position," said ono doctor, "is, l.nefly, tliitf: Dunedin University must always have- the medical school -or the Dominion, and, consequently, the great bulk of the clinical instruction given must be obtained through Dimedin Ho*uital. But Dunedin Hospital is very small, and is not able to afford anything like sufficient clinical experience for the yearly increasing number of students. Thin experience i<s essential for a firstclass qualification, and I think that a real reform eon Id be brought about by giving medical students an opportunity .of attending, in vacation tune, the hospitals at Chrirttclncrch, Wellington, or Auckland, whichever is most convenient. The two last mentioned institutions are the largest hospitals in New Zealand, -mid are able to afford a very much more extensive scope for clinical instruction.. This :s, of course, the most important rrcirt of the whole curriculum, for students, however many lectures they may attend, cannot become proficient unless thev actuai.lv see the various forms of •disease, for themselves. They positively cannot see too much of it. and it does seem a pity that the clinical material •of two such hospitals as Wellington and Auckland should, to all intents and purposes, be lost." As for reform of the curriculum pro•per, he believed that there is also room for improvement on the theoretical side. Dunedin was doing its best to raise the standard as high as possible, and he hoped in a few years to see a decided all round improvement. It was bound to come, for the professorial board was inspired with a very laudable energy, and Tinder such circumstances as that, outward signs of a very distinct advance could not be very long in appearing The agitation for reform, conning as it ■did from the professors themselves, was one that should be encouraged in every possible way by the thinking public. THEORY EXCELLENT—PRACTICE BAD. A very similar view was taken of tho subject by another doctor, who crystallised his opinion in the sentence: "I ■think it is a very excellent theoretical course, but there is not anything liku isufficiont clinical material to make at fully practical." The small number of beds in the Dunedin Hospital meant, ho •said, that oaeh student at the medical school had very few patients to himself, and consequently very restricted opportunities for learning by actual ex■perience in the. treatment of disease. Hut lii the other centres, whore tho largest hospitals ware situated, there were no medical schools, so that the clinical material they could provide was absolutely going to waste. "I wonder," ho said, "why we cannot do as they •do at, say, Cambridge, where tho first or theoretical part of the course (anjikunv, physiology, chemistry, physics, and 'pathology) is taken, the students •then proceeding to one of the recognised hospitals for their practical experience, and later returning for their final examination at the university. If it could be managed, I would recommend the adoption of a similar course here, students being given the option of going -through any recognised hospital in tho Dominion after completing the theoretical part of their work at the Dunedin Medical School." THE MEDICAL SCHOOL. ! "NOT MUCH TO CRITICISE.** "The medical school is a - good one, 'bnt the great objection, is that the hos-' pital is too small," commented a welltnown Wellington doctor of long experience. "It turns out good men, but it is advisable that they should have hospital experience afterwards. There is plenty of room for the graduates in the New Zealand hospitals, Wellington, for instance, where there are three at the present moment."

"Are the examinations suitable and (sufficient?" the doctor was asked. His answer was that they are on. the same lines as English examinations, and- the ifact that New Zealanders go Home and ■do well in the profession shows that the standard of attainment in New Zealand •is high enough. "An important reform which should apply throughout the medical and surgical courses, continued the doctor, "is that the teacher should be allowed to teach whatever he pleases. He should not be bound down by the senate to a certain syllabus. The teacher himself should draw tip the syllabus. In the Home universities this is done, and haa ai good effect, because nobody knows better than tho teacher what is accessary and what is modern. Though eome of my colleagues would not agree to it, I favour allowing the teacher to be present at the examination, in accordonce with the practice at tho Scotch universities. No, there ig not much to ipriticise in the university courses affecting our profession, excepting that it would be advisable to make it compuljjory on all graduates to have practical hospital experience after qualifying."