Tulane University School of Medicine - T Wave Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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Josephine Hutchinson Memorial Building 1893 ■ 1930 munity such that the Flexner Report was, in effect, an obituary for a great many medical colleges. Within a few years al- most half of the colleges had disap- peared, mostly due to the adverse public- ity. Although Flexner found medical edu- cation at Tulane far from ideal, he ranked Tulane among the top three medical schools of the South. Tulane ' s high rank- ing was based on new and excellent labo- ratory facilities, the teaching faculty, the clinical availability of Charity Hospital, and the post-graduate instruction pro- vided by the New Orleans Polyclinic. In 1913, Tulane reorganized the medi- cal department to include the school of pharmacy, the school of dentistry, the school of medicine and the graduate school of medicine. Today, only the latter two schools remain as part of the present school of medicine. In 1958, the division of hygiene and tropical medicine was es- tablished, which has since evolved into the school of public health and tropical medicine. The Josephine Hutchinson Memorial Building on Canal Street continued to house the clinical facilities of the medical school for nearly forty years. However, by the late 1920 ' s, the building had be- come crowded and obsolete. Funds were provided for a new medical unit to be built contiguous to Charity Hospital in what is now the present location of the medical school. When the building opened in December 1930, it was ac- claimed as the best medical teaching unit in the South. The preclinical departments, unfortu- nately, were still located on the Uptown campus. Nonetheless, it was acknowl- edged that to provide the most enriching medical environment possible, all four years of medical education needed to be consolidated on one campus. It was not, however, until October of 1955 that a ten story addition to the Hutchinson Memori- al Building enabled the second year de- partments to be moved downtown. This left only the first year departments on the Uptown campus, in 1963, further addi- tions to the downtown facility were built to house the first year departments, final- ly enabling the medical school to reunify its entire four classes in one building for the first time since the early 1900 ' s. In 1969, the Tulane Medical Center was established, an organizational struc- ture which broadened Tulane ' s commit- Tulane Medical School Uptown ments to medical education, research and patient care. The Tulane Medical Center Hospital and Clinic, the first such univer- sity hospital in Louisiana, was dedicated in October 1976. This 300-bcd hospital enabled Tulane to consolidate a wide range of patient services in a tertiary care environment, in the few short years since its opening, it has become a major refer- ral center for the region. Since its founding 151 years ago as The Medical College of Louisiana, Tulane has undergone many changes. Several buildings and locations have occupied these buildings; so have federal troops during the Civil War. There have been periods of financial plenty, followed by periods of financial drought. Throughout the years, however, Tulane has always striven to improve its standards of medi- cal education so that today it is ranked among the top medical schools in the country, and perhaps the world. From its meager beginnings in 1834 with 11 stu- dents. The Tulane University School of Medicine has gone on to confer a total of 12,433 medical degrees including those conferred on the graduates of the Class of 1985. Charily Hospital 1939 ■ Present Tulane University School of Medicine

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need for new facilities. In 1893, a new building, the Richardson Memorial Build- ing, was built on Canal Street to house the medical school. Although this building was heralded as one of the best equipped medical buildings of its day, by 1907, further expansion was needed. At this time, Alexander Hutchinson bequeathed a large sum in memory of his wife Jose- phine. This fund was used to construct a new Richardson Building on what was to become the Uptown Campus. This build- ing would now house all preclinical de- partments. Facilities of the old Richard- son Building were enlarged for clinical teaching purposes and the building was renamed the Josephine Hutchinson Me- morial. Meanwhile the school was continuously attempting to raise its standards. When the medical school was initially founded, the school year had lasted only four months, and only two full courses of lec- tures were required for graduation. Since only one set of courses existed, the stu- dents were expected to take the same lectures twice. Admission to lectures was gained with a ticket purchased at a price of $20. This was the sole means by which the professors were paid. Addition- al fees included a matriculation fee of $5 and a diploma fee of $30. Incidental ex- penses included the purchase of two arms for dissection at 25 cents each, and two legs at 15 cents each. At this time, the only requirement for admission was the ability to finance one ' s education. Graducilly, the annual sessions were lengthened from the original four months to four and one-half months in 1879, then to six months in 1893. In later years, the length of these sessions was further ex- tended until it evolved into what it is to- day. It was also in 1893 that an educa- tional qualification for admission was first required of all students. The minimum qualification for admission was a second grade teacher ' s certificate of a superin- tendent of education. Also, to further strengthen educational standards, atten- dance of three, instead of two, annual sessions was required. In 1899, this was lengthened to four obligatory sessions. By the early 1900 ' s, it became appar- ent that a high degree of disparity existed between different medical schools. In 1908, Abraham Flexner was selected by the Carnegie Foundation to undertake an analysis of the state of medical education. He made a study of 155 American and Canadian medical schools, beginning at Tulane in the winter of 1908. Flexner published his report in 1910, describing shocking and deplorable conditions in many medical schools. This opened the eyes of the public and the medical com- Class of 1910 in the Anatomy Lab Classroom for bandage instruction ¥1

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THE CRESCENT CITY; NEW ORLEANS 10 An inseperable part of attending Tulane Medical School for the last four years has been the experience of living in New Orleans. When we were sick of the smell of formaldehyde, or tired of studying Micro, or freed after checkout rounds, it was to the city surrounding the school that we turned for entertainment and diversion. Much as learning medicine starts with anatomy, so too does learning a city start with learning its parts. We first became acquainted with the Downtown area, which surrounds the medical school. Like all of New Orleans, this is a diverse area; the Superdome, Charity Hospital, One Shell Square and Camp Street are all within its boundaries. A little further away is the French Quarter, full of bars, tourists, and occasionally staggering medical students. Still further is the Uptown area, where many of us have lived these four years and where, at the undergraduate campus, many of us started our association with Tulane. After learning the structure of the city, we moved on to the way it functions. New Orleans, like any organism, requires food to survive. However, food in New Orleans can vary from the ridiculous to the sublime. How many of us have ever tested our GI tracts with a Lucky Dog in the Quarter? Who will forget the traditional Red Beans and Rice on Monday, or the ubiquitous Popeye ' s Fried Chicken (guaranteed to make your rectum stand up and take notice)? On the other hand, there are Antoine ' s and Galatoire ' s and Commander ' s Palace, where we celebrated our continued success at passing tests. Another of New Orlean ' s ever present diversions is its music. Here again, the city displays its diversity. During the Symphony season, classical music could be heard in the Orpheum (or the pathology lab if Dr. Johnson ' s tape recorder was working). Alternatively, there is a lively popular music scene, with soul, rock and roll, and country and western - for instance, the famous Avogadro and the Moles. Jazz is to be heard thoughout the French Quarter and, in the Spring, at the Jazz and Heritage Festival. Speaking of Festivals, there is that ultimate Festival, Mardi Gras. This probably ranks as the most significant distraction and entertainment New Orleans has to offer. Following an ancient pagan tradition, the city and its inhabitants welcome the return of Spring with the largest outpouring of bacchanalian revelry since the lions met the Christians. Nowadays, of course, little human sacrifice goes on; but medical students can often be found sacrificing their studies for a good time. Furthermore, they will frequently be heard to call out to the local female deities to display their bountiful charms to the worshipful crowds below (cill in good fun, of course). For all the many problems New Orleans has. it has as many attractions, not the least of which is Tulane Medical School. For those of you who leave New Orleans to practice elsewhere, we hope you remember it well; and, if you can find the time, come back to visit The Big Easy . If not, a simple Throw me somthin ' Mister on Fat Tuesday will suffice.