To the Right Hon. Colonel Stanley, Secretary of State for War.

  • Aitken, William Henry, Sir, 1825-1892.
Date:
[1878]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: To the Right Hon. Colonel Stanley, Secretary of State for War. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    deration, yet, on no point am I more firmly convinced than this, that a short term of pupilage with a general practitioner, where the pupil has the opportunity of becoming practically acquainted with the properties of drugs and their doses, when he first begins to prescribe for ordinary cases, and performs minor operations under the eye of his principal, and gradually goes on to attend cases of more importance on his own respon- sibility, is the very best introduction a student can possibly have. It enables him to derive more instruction from hospital practice, and places him in a great advantage over those who have not had that privilege, and is of immense value both to himself and those under his treatment when he launches out into practice on his own responsibility. The want of such a practical introduction has blighted the prospects of many a young practitioner, and necessitated his taking a situation as an assistant, to acquire what may be called the business of our profession. Let me ask, then, is it not better to submit to this process at the commencement of the medical career, than after enjoying the freedom and liberties of a student’s life, and with the first blushing pride of having acquired medical honours, to be compelled to submit to officiate in a subordinate capacity? The difference between hospital and general practice is so patent as to require no demonstration. The class of patients—the circumstances in which they are placed—in the one, with every facility for medical and surgical appliances, and trained nursing; in the other, the absence of these, to more or less extent, besides having frequently adverse influences to contend with. There are also a lai-ge number of diseases which come under the notice of the general practitioner, but which are rarely admitted within our hospital walls. That confidence (under every emergency) at the bedside, which is so essential to success, rarely comes by intuition, and cannot be acquired from books, but is a gradual process. Upon these grounds, and others also, which would take up too much space to discuss, it seems to me a fair conclusion, that it is much better for the alumni of our profession, before commencing their purely scientific study, to have a short time of breaking in, by placing them where they can have ample opportunity of gaining confidence, and observing the details of general practice. I am, &c., Thos. Uxerhill. Great Bridge, Tipton, October, 1868. [See also British Med. Journal, 16th Nov., 1878, page 751, “Hospital Practice versus Apprenticeship.”]