Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Synapsis Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

Page 11 text:

OSTEOPATHY IN A CHANGING WORLD There is nothing so consistent and inevitable as change; in the moving currents of hfe one either goes forward or backward. The truer view of the art of healing can be found not through the microscope but through the telescope. Look back over the years through the microscope and you will see cholera sweeping Asia and across Europe, malaria and typhoid fever running rampant and uncontrolled, the Black Death, one of the most memorable of the epi- demics of the Middle Ages wiping out an esti- mated 25,000,000 people, diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, and other infectious diseases taking their toll among children, etc. The microscope and the telescope yield two quite different views. Through the microscope we see people and nations living from day to day in fear of epidemics, pestilences, and plagues. We see doctors bent over their patients, confused and hopelessly befuddled. But look again through the telescope and we see mankind passing through one of the great changes of all time. We see science and medicine working together in finding the cause of any alteration of the nor- mal life processes of the body under the influences of unnatural conditions. We see new theories and approaches in the art of healing that have revo- lutionized the treatment of disease. We see the system, founded on the principle that All bodily disorders are the result of me- chanical obstruction to the free circulation of vital fluids and forces, being adopted in the treatment of disease and the treatment of almost all bodily disorders. We see mankind, trying to assimilate this new system, gradually becoming world-wide in its reach. On the shoulders of the students who be- lieve in this new system, founded by Dr. A. T. Still, falls a great responsibility. In a world of nations, races, and classes swinging confusedly from one loyalty to another, amid abundance and poverty, vast unmet needs and vast unemployment, jostling one another, there is bound to be new and perplexing problems. JOHN G. KECK

Page 10 text:

GREETINGS TO THE CLASS OF 19 4 1 I believe it was John Dewey, great American philosopher, who said: The first distinguishing characteristic of thinking is facing the facts — in- quir)-, minute and extensive scrutinizing, obser- vation. Where or when I first read or heard this philo- sophical statement I cannot remember. That is beside the point. Fact is that it impressed me as pointed and related to what I sensed and saw reflected about the science of osteopathy. In our earlier years some scientific investigations were carried out. Seemingly to us in retrospection there followed years of inertness and diffidence. More recently real thinkers and inquirers have entered our fold. The atmosphere of things has changed. The art of osteopathy with all its gar- nishments has been outrun or at least matched. Art is in flight today before the sciences. The sciences have progressed with astounding eclat — inquiry, minute and extensive scrutinizing, obser- vation — the need for these things has impressed us. The call is clear. Here in your College organized, systematic re- search work goes on. There may be only super- ficial evidence of it — but it is to be registered and it is real. I have followed the progress of the Philadelphia College for more than a quarter of a centur)-. Notable advances have been made. But nothing pleases me more than the mind, the will if you please, of various members of our facult)- to inquire into the why of osteopathic things. This last is vital. President Emeritus, A. Law- rence Lowell, Harvard University, from a rich life and a long educational service, has this to say; Experience has proved and probably no one would now deny, that knowledge can advance, or at least can advance most rapidly, only by means of an unfettered search for truth on the part of those who devote their lives to seeking it in their respective fields, and by complete freedom in imparting to their pupils the truth that they have found. There lies a gem from a learned gentleman whose education and wisdom may well be recog- nized and respected. The future of osteopathy as a profession is linked with the inquir}-. minute and extensive scrutiniz- ing, observation of her teachers and students. EDGAR O. HOLDEN

Page 12 text:

IN MEMORY OF ... . THE LATE DR. ARTHUR M. FLACK, SR. Dr. Arthur M. Flack, Sr., who although he was comparatively unknown to the present student body, stood as one of the stronger supporters of P.C.O. Dr. Flack served as Dean from 1911 to 1924, after being connected with the school for many years as an instructor. He was graduated in 1906 and received the honorary degree of Master of Science in 1934. All his life was devoted to the advancem ent of Osteopathy and P.C.O. DR. MARTIN SCHNOLL Dr. Martin Schnoll, fellow in Obstetrics and a graduate of the class of 1937, whose passing left many bereaved friends and former classmates.