College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons - Cortex Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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After the war the need for a permanent home was felt by the officials of the college, so in 1921, the board of trustees purchased the site at Griffin Avenue and Mission Road opposite the General HospitaL The old Pacific College Building was cut in two and moved to the new location where it was re-assembled. The porches were cut off and the outside was stuccoed and it formed the nucleus for the present group of buildings. At first all departments, clinic, office and laboratories were housed in the one building. As the student body grew on old frame cottage in the rear was utilized as the dissection laboratory . From this time on the college has grown steadily. A new building replaced the old dissection laboratory and it housed the dissection and chemistry laboratory. A gymnasium was built, but feeling the pinch for space, the college moved the dissection laboratory to the gymnasium and replaced it in the other building with the bio-chemistry laboratory. An administration building and auditorium were next erected. While all this expanding was going on the clinic was moved downtown to Main Street near Fourth and then to its present location at 317 South hHill Street where it now occupies four floors in the John Luckenbach Building. All the old buildings of the Los Angeles College have been demolished and a parking lot is all that can now be seen. Glancing over some of the departments, we find that they have traveled far. When the college was located in the San Fernando Building, the dissection laboratory was housed in a nearby garage, which left much to be desired from the students viewpoint. When the college moved to the present location, the laboratory was located for a while where the obstetrical clinic now is. Dissecting material was scarce even as late as 1921 and a female cadaver was )u5t impossible to obtain. The laboratory v as next moved to the third floor and then to an old frame cottage of four small rooms, in the rear of the main building, where the chemical laboratories now stand. The cottage was noted for a complete lack of dependability in its flooring and for a unique system of ventilation which had been provided by the ravages of time and which allowed fresh air, sunlight or rain to pass without inter- ruption through almost any spot in the roof. The cottage v as so small that the pro- P.ige Fijleen

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The following year the Dr. S. S. Still College of Des Moines was purchased by the American School, resulting in the subsequent migration of several staff mem- bers to Los Angeles. They, with a number of former Des Moines students intended to affiliate with the Pacific College, but for some reason, unknown to this writer, failed to do so, but instead incorporated the Los Angeles College of Osteopathy in September, 1906. The new school progressed rapidly and soon became one of the outstanding osteopathic colleges. The Los Angeles College located on South - Street just one door south of the present clinic location. The plant consisted, in 191 2, of a three-story brick administration building facing on Hill Street, a four-story clinical and surgical building in the middle of the grounds, the main college building of five stories, at the Clay Street end of the grounds, and a four-story hospital build- ing adjoining the last at 322-324-326 Clay Street. In 1910, we find the Pacific College giving the degrees. Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Osteopathy for the completion of the four-year elective course. All the requirements of the American Medical Association as to subjects and hours were met or exceeded. In 1914, at the state convention held at Stockton, affiliation of the two colleges was advised and within three weeks a committee of seven met to consider ways and means. On June 13, that year, a mass meeting was held for final action on the consolidation of the two colleges and the money necessary for the action was pledged ($50,000.00). On July 21, articles of incorporation of the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons were signed under the educational laws of the State of California. Under the provisions of its incorporation all of its income and endowment must be directly utilized for the training of students, no earnings being paid on its stock. The new organization took over the quarters of the Los Angeles College on South hHill Street due to existing leases. The college remained there four years. Shortly after this the United States entered the World War and along with all the other schools in the country the activities of C. O. P. S. were quite restricted. (It is of interest to note that the war forced the U. S. C. Medical College to close its doors.) The college then moved from its hHill Street quarters to the San Fernando Building at Fourth and Main Streets. P. i ' c- PoUltlfll

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fessor, Dr. Pritchard, was able to exercise such close supervision over the work of the students that those students who were inclined to leisure fondly (?) referred to him as the college slave driver. The following year a lean-to was added to the cottage in place of its porch. This was of early type California bungalow construction — boards and bats. A vision of students dissecting with an open umbrella over the table during the rainy season still brings forth a chuckle from many of the graduates. The next move was to the present bio-chemistry laboratory and after a short stay there the laboratory moved to its present quarters. While located in the old cottagfe, the lectures were held in an amphitheatre located in the present obstetrical quarters. Students will never forget just how hard those seats were. They were so hard they prevented sufficient relaxation to allow the student to sleep during lectures. For some two years dissection and lectures both were conducted in our present laboratory and on a warm day the odors were frequently worse than those that emanate from the chemistry laboratory now. State laws have mode available a wealth of material now, both male and female. The laboratories and lecture rooms are excellent now, but attempts ore being made to modernize them still more. The obstetrical department is another department in the college that has gone far. Dr. Boshor, the present head, relates how when he was a student, the student that was able to bring in a case for demonstration was allowed to deliver it. hie tells of following a prospective case to a house and later returning to talk to the man of the house only to find that the woman lived elsewhere, hie was successful however in locating his patient and selling the services of the clinic. Students now serve two weeks on the maternity service. This has been mode possible by the former students who hod such a dearth of material that they made up their minds that the future students would have more to work with than they hod. P.ifie Sixttf ' i