Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons - P and S Yearbook (New York, NY)

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'26 ,- 11 i.,l ,i '-i-T?-0 4-4' ---.Q 1,,, 4 .L ' ' Figure 3 The College of Physicians 8 Surgeons at Fourth Avenue and 23rd Street In March 1807, when the Columbia College School of Medicine proved a failure, the Regents allowed the Medical Society of the County of New York to incorporate as the College of Physicians and Surgeons . . . In 1811, at the age of sixty-nine, Samuel Bard was called from retirement to the presidency of the College of Physicians and Surgeons . . . That year also saw the graduation of the first class l8 studentsj of the College. and Surgeons to the Regents ofthe University ofthe State ofNew York. Among other charges. it maintained that by the professors serving as both the faculty and Board of Trustees ofthe College. they formed a learned aristocracy that could not be controlled. and which used the College as a source of exclusive privileges and immunities to be exercised for their sole benefit. ln

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void left by the war was quickly filling with physicians and surgeons released from military service. The war. however, did not bring about any remarkable changes in medical education. Medical education remained based predominantly on the apprentice system, in which a few students attended formal courses in addition to their studies in doctors' offices. and even fewer pursued advanced medical education abroad. A newcomer to this post-war New York medical scene was Dr. Nicholas Romayne, who was educated in Edinburgh, Paris and Leyden. In 1784, with the help of Samuel Bard. the former King's College reopened as Columbia College. Dr. Romayne was named both Trustee and Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the medical schoolzjoining him on the faculty were Samuel Bard fChemistryJ, Charles McKnight tAnatomy and Surgeryl. Benjamin Kissam llnstitutes of Medicinel. and Ebenezer Crosby tMidwiferyJ. Unfortunately, the medical school was short-lived. In addition to personal differences between Romayne and Bard, there was considerable friction In April 1776, medical studies were suspended at King's College, the students were dispersed, and the College was taken over by the Committee for Safety and then by Washington's troops. concerning the practice of private instruction by members of the faculty. In 1787. Romayne resigned from the faculty to form his own medical school. Subsequent faculty resignations shortly thereafter effectively closed down the school. In 1791. Romayne petitioned the Regents of the University ofthe State of New York to recognize his school. However, such action by the Regents was fought by the trustees of Columbia College, who claimed that only they had the legal right to form a medical school. Subsequently, when the Columbia College Medical School proved a failure, the Regents allowed the Medical Society ofthe County of New York, in March 1807, to incorporate as a College of Physicians and Surgeons. The president ofthe society, Dr. Romayne, became the president ofthe Collegegjoining him on the faculty were Drs. Samuel Mitchell tChemistryl, David Hosack lSurgery, Midwifery. Materia Medica and Botanyl, Edward Miller tPractice of Medicinel. Archibald Bruce fMineralogyl. John Augustine Smith tAnatomyl, and Benjamin DeWitt tlnstitutes of Medicinel. The College was first located at No. 18 Park Place tformerly. Robinson Streetl. At that time. most ofthe city was below Chambers Street. The wealthier residences were at the lower end of Broadway, about the Battery and Bowling Green, with the shops in the upper part ofthe same street. Broadway was paved only to the neighborhood of Canal Street beyond which it continued as a road. Canal Street itself existed only on paper. and was represented by a swamp and a sluggish stream. crossed by a bridge at the intersection of Broadway. Two years later. in 1809. the College moved to No. 553 2-1 Pearl Street. In 1810. it was reported that certain misunderstandings having taken place between the then president fDr. Romaynej and the professors prompted the Regents to investigate these differences. In 1811. at the age of sixty-nine, Samuel Bard was called from retirement to the presidency ofthe College of Physicians and Surgeons. After returning to New York in 1784, and reorganizing Columbia College, Bard fthe former Loyalistl had opened a very fashionable and busy practice, which included George Washington fwhose carbuncle he successfully incised, in 1789, assisted by his father, Dr. John Bardl. Samuel Bard retired. in 1789, to his estate in Hyde Park, New York to devote his leisure to the care of his estate and to scientific and literary pursuits. The year 1811, also saw the graduation ofthe first class teight studentsl ofthe College of Physicians and Surgeons. For the next few years, while the Columbia College Medical School had little more than maintained an existence, Cconferring its last degree on Robert Morrel. in 18103, the College of Physicians and Surgeons had becom quite successful. In 1813. it moved again, this time to a three-story building at No. 3 Barclay Street, and in its eighth session 11814-18151, the class numbered 121 students. In 1814, to allow the professors ofthe Columbia College Medical School tojoin the faculty ofthe College of Physicians and Surgeons, all the medical lectures at Columbia were suspended and complete union had taken place. ln reality. however, there was no true union between the two institutions. In 1860. underthe leadership of Edward Delafield, the College of Physicians and Surgeons became independent ofthe Regents ofthe State University and became the Medical Department of In 1784, with the help of Samuel Bard, the former King's College reopened as Columbia College . . . In 1787, Dr. Romayne, Professor of the Practice of Medicine, resigned from the faculty of the Columbia College School of Medicine to form his own medical school. Subsequent faculty resignations shortly thereafter effectively closed down the Columbia College School of Medicine. Columbia College. In this union. however. both institutions were united only in conferring the M.D. degrees, but remained independent of one another. A true union between the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Columbia College. was established only in March 1891, when the latter surrendered its charter. donated all its property tvalued at 1.625 million dollarsl to, and became an integral part of. Columbia University. Dr, David Hosack. Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, purchased from the city a twenty acre enclosure of land, which was located some three miles north ofthe city, on which he planted a great C

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Dr. David Hosack, Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine, purchased from the city a twenty acre enclosure of land which was located some three miles north of the city, on which he planted a great botanical garden . . . In 1816, after the garden fell into a state of disrepair, the land fpresently, known as Rockefeller Centerj was turned over, by an act of the legislature, to Columbia College. .A A r' 1' . 4 . ' ' . . '- f 4-45 .1..-, 4- .4 - t.a.r.u.. an. Lv-. ...-amd .1 1 wg U31 ' A fe -4 me . g.,--T-- . s--v-1-:r-:azr-----1-E---1-gg-ef --,gL 1 . ...... . .....,. .. ..,... ,.... ,.,. .. . . .... ,. F . iv .. A -N ,... .. ' ---77. Q. , Y..,...',..L ' 4,5 -. . Y--1.'? !r ,4. 4 - 4- 7 Y.-1 L7 ...f Y ,Liam , . ,. ,-,-- -Aan . .- aa addition, it was charged that the raising oflecture fees and the charging of additional fees by the faculty, made the total educational expense prohibitive. Moreover,just as serious was the accusation that the professional standards ofthe College were lowered, resulting in the hastened graduation oflarge numbers of unprepared physicians. In response, these charges were termed groundless. and vigorously denied by the College faculty which attributed them to professionaljealousy. They felt that the teachers were, ultimately, the bestjudges ofthe qualifications oftheir students, and that the great increase in attendance at the college was ample proofthat their fees were reasonable and not burdensome. t A tuition fee of fifteen dollars is charged for the full course of lectures, for one year, with one professor. An additional charge of five dollars is allowed to the professors of Chemistry and Anatomy for their assistants, and extra necessary expenses about their lectures J. To rectify the situation, the Regents decided that aside from the president and vice-president ofthe College, future vacancies on the Board ofTrustees will only be filled by private practioners. They also fixed the tuition charges to a fixed rate, and set a minimal duration of medical studies at the College. However, no harmony between the two rival camps was reached with these changes, and their battles were moved into the College. In 1826, a new Regents Committee concluded these differences were based on professional rivalries , and suggested that the composition ofthe Board of Trustees be changed. It was, therefore, decided that all the vacancies on the Board would be filled by persons who are not ofthe medical profession. The College faculty agreed and further, demanded that the entire Board of Trustees be dismissed, and be replaced by nonmedical men. In April 1826, when it failed to convince the legislature to replace the entire Board of Trustees, the faculty and officers ofthe College of Physicians and Surgeons resigned their positions, and the Regents promptly appointed a new faculty to take their places. To continue teaching, the former faculty fDrs. Hosack, Mott, Macneven. Mitchell and Francisi, organized at their own expense, a rival medical school in New York, the short-lived Rutgers Medical College, which lasted only four years. In 1837, the College moved to No. 67 Crosby Street into facilities unsurpassed by any similar establishment Z6 'W -1 --nf. - .-:gf r ' . ,Llti.JD- . ':, . M 11 ,- ff 1: I-Iii: - - '1'-fu ef. : ' - if ff-'mr' ' ,1... -'- 'fl It ,. -. Lt i I . -- I- - ity. 'L ' r ' '- v- is .. 'T' ff '. . l 'lf' 291 P- 'l I-.Y Yli xf 3 N, Ks, 2' 0 1 -12.1 -A uf.. W 1 ' 1 g rt., gc. - Q- 7' 9' ' f 3 ' 1' vu ' '- . - 14- WEE . .A 5. . . ' ' ' -' f' 'I . - if - Q' : .G mi 3 ' l Q .- L a I 4 L 1 lx '11 .F ,4. . - ' .A ,cL4'.,,fg,,jg- J g P Y .. . TT'fI'1',l, ' ,'... ,. . - 1, ' ,,. Q- 1 .- j J!! L I. ' ' .,,. ' -. . 'l - ,,- . -.. . Li ' . f 5 . Y. : W N. ,Lf x 1 1 ,I Q.: : ,ag .' f , '- , . I, 1, 7: . f 3 Z.. 5.113117 '.cp - i -ul.. .L a 1 .31 y..:LgF : -y .,,:'.:q...,.-'wit ' . -- -Y,:-1 -'i - -' if ss, H.. F?'9i'li-5611912 aries '-iT rf'jZf if ' .2-ii1.- 11:31. -' agen-21 . - ' -- -F ..LZ,33, a rf? 11. -r 1 X sir i.... rn-r r .1-.r in the Union . This move began a long period of quiet and productive growth. In 1841, Dr. Willard Parker. Professor of Surgery, established the College Clinic. where students would observe diagnosis and treatment in an ambulatory care setting. From a single clinic of minor surgery held once a week, the clinic grew by 1876 to include ten different clinics fincluding, Pediatrics, Gynecology, Dermatology, Venereal Diseases, In 1826, after failing to convince the legislature to replace the entire board of trustees with nonmedical men, the faculty and officers of the College of Physicians and Surgeons resigned their positions, and the Regents promptly appointed a new faculty to take their place. Medicine, Neurology, and othersi. Indeed, the prominence ofthe College Clinics became so great. that in 1869, it prompted the establishment ofa new grade of teachers, lasting to the present. named Clinical Professors: each of whom was in charge of his special clinic. In the year 1851, Bellevue Hospital joined The New York Hospital as a teaching institution. Thus. medical instruction at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, then more than ever before, covered the entire spectrum of disease from ambulatory care to the more serious and advanced conditions seen in the hospitals. Finally, a significant advancement in medical education came in 1854 with the passage by the state legislature of the Anatomical Bill , which secured for medical schools all the unclaimed bodies from the state penal and charitable institutions. Prior to 1854, medical schools were only able to lawfully obtain for dissection the unclaimed bodies of convicts who died in the penitentiaries of Sing Sing and Auburn. Consequently. there was considerable dealing in bodies dug up from the