American College of Surgeons - Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

Page 23 text:

General Survey 3 by bonds which reached the deepest emotions of these surgeons, they pledged their active support. The College became to them a vision for the full payment of the surgeon ' s debt to his pro- fession. The details of organization, however, which still remained to be perfected, were quite beyond the conception of all except the few who had become intimately associated with the growth of the plan. These details cannot here be related. In the months which followed, the General Secretary of the College, Dr. Franklin H. Martin, received about five thousand applications for Fellowship. In order that action might be taken upon these applications with the least unnecessary delay, the Regents promptly authorized the appointment of Committees on Credentials. These com- mittees consist of the Central Committee which reports directly to the Regents, and of State and Provincial Committees which report to the Central Committee. The Central Committee, consisting of five Fellows of the College, holds its meetings about once each week at the offices of the College. It reviews the data and correspondence on file in connection with each candidate. The State and Provincial Committees, each consisting of from five to seven Fellows, are appointed in nearly every state in the Union and in four divisions of Canada. These committees also review the data concerning each candidate and report their recommendations to the Central Committee. In appointing each of these committees the Regents have asked that no recommendations for Fellowship be made if there were lack of information or doubt as to a candidate ' s qualifications. These necessary precautions have caused delay of final action upon many cases which the Regents and officers of the College regret. Details as to the number of Fellows admitted under this routine at each of the four Convocations are here given later. Also the data asked for on the formal application for Fellowship are given together with a tentative plan of admission of candidates whose applications were filed after November i, 1914. THE FINANCIAL STATUS In order to provide means for the organization of the College an initial Fellowship Fee of fifty dollars from each Fellow was voted at the first meeting of the College. This sum was payable,

Page 22 text:

2 American College of Surgeons Without delay, the committee thus appointed took up its task with great earnestness. It sought the advice and guidance of the surgeons of this continent who stood out preeminently as leaders in each of the divisions of surgery. Especially did it seek counsel of the professors of surgery among the stronger medical schools. In March, 1913, so abundantly was the committee assured of the approval and support of these men that it issued a call for a meeting of the organization to be held in Washington on May 5, 19 13. About five hundred surgeons were invited to this meeting and at the appointed time most of those invited were present. The purposes of the proposed College, as stated in the call, were as follows, — 1. It should formulate a minimum standard of requirements which should be possessed by any authorized graduate in medicine who is allowed to perform, independently, surgical operations in general surgery or any of its specialties. 2. It should consider the desirability of listing the names of those men who desire to practice surgery and who come under the authorized requirements. 3. It should seek the means of legalizing under national, colonial, state or provincial laws, a distinct degree supplementing the medical degree, which shall be conferred upon physicians possessing the requirements recognized by this law as necessary to be possessed by operating surgeons. 4. It should seek cooperation with the medical schools of the continent which have the right to confer the degree of M.D. under the present recognized standards, and urge these colleges to confer a supplementary degree on those of its graduates who have, in addition to their medical course, fulfilled the necessary apprentice- ship in surgical hospitals, operative laboratories, and actual operative surgery. 5. It should authorize and popularize the use of this title by men upon whom it is conferred, and its use should especially be urged in all directories of physicians in order that the laity, as well as medical men, may distinguish between the men who have been authorized to practice surgery and those who have not. At this meeting in Washington the College was legally organ- ized. By-laws, rules, and regulations were adopted after due consideration, and the Board of Governors, the Board of Regents, and the officers of the College were elected. But, more than this,

Page 24 text:

American College of Surgeons twenty-five dollars on admission, and five dollars annually there- after for five years. Realizing that the income to be derived in this way was but temporary, and desiring to place the College on a safe, independent, and financially adequate basis, the Fellows in June, 1914, voted to raise an Endowment for the College of one million dollars. This plan provided that the Endowment should be invested in perpetuity, the income only to be used for the constructive work of the College. It provided, further, that each Fellow be asked for a subscription of five hundred dollars. It was understood that all subscriptions should be contingent on the raising of five hundred thousand dollars by December i, 1914, the first payment on the subscription to be made January i, 191 5. Subscriptions to the amount of $113,000 were pledged at the first meeting and it was the intention to push the plan among those Fellows who were absent from that meeting, after the summer vacations. Because of the war, however, the Regents decided to ask those who had made subscriptions to give their consent to extend the time for obtaining the subscription one year, or until December i, 191 5, and the beginning for the payment of the sub- scription to January 1, 1916. This extension has been agreed to. The subscription plan is a promise to pay in the form of a note-pledge, with a discretionary provision to pay in installments, the entire amount at one time, or to have the entire amount stand in the form of a promissory note, interest to be paid on all balances at the rate of five per cent per annum, the exact form of card being,— In case of death all unpaid balances are cancelled. ENDOWMENT FUND hereby subscribe Five Hundred {$500.00) Dollars to the Endowment Fund of the American College oj Surgeons, the amount to be paid as follows: Jan. 1916 • Jan. 1918 S Jan. 1920 Jan. 1917 $ Jan. 1919 1 I further agree to pay interest on the balances due on this pledge at the rate of 5 per cent per annum, beginning January i, igi6. It is further agreed that this subscription shall be void unless the subscription to the Endowment Fund equals $500,000 by December i, 1915. Signed