SUNY Downstate Medical Center - Iatros Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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Alexander I. C. Skene, M.D. After a nationwide search for candidates a distinguished faculty of eight was selected. Their teaching responsibilities included two sixteen week courses of lectures. Dr. Austin Flint, Professor of Practical Medicine and Pathology, was the most eminent member of the faculty. Known as the American Laennec, he was the chief proponent of the stethoscope in the United States, stressing its importance in physical diagnosis. He is best known for his characterication of heart murmurs. Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, Professor of Surgery was the first advocate of skin grafting. He was Medi- cal lnspector of the United States Army during the Civil War and returned to Long Island College Hospital to chair the Department of Military Medi- cine, the first of its kind in the United States. Dr. John C. Dalton, Professor of Physiology and Microscopic Anatomy, was the most renowned physiologist in America in his time. He studied under Claude Bernard, championed the use of ether anes- thesia and introduced animal experimentation into medical education. The other members of the faculty included Dr. R. 20 Ogden Doremus, Professor of Chemistry and Toxi- cology, Dr. James D. Trask, Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, Dr. Joseph C. Hutchinson, Professor of Surgical Anatomy and Operative Surgery, Dr. DeWitt Clinton Enos, Pro- fessor of General and Descriptive Anatomy and Dr. Edwin N. Chapman, Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. An 1863 graduate, Dr. Alexander J. C. Skene, joined the faculty in 1865 and became Professor of Diseases of Women and Clinical Obstetrics in 1870. He devoted 34 years as teacher, Dean of the Faculty and President of the College. He was an authority in his field and discovered Skene's ducts. The first graduates were mainly confronted with infectious diseases such as cholera, dysentery, com- sumption, small pox and yellow fever and street and industrial accidents. Students graduating in 1861 were offered training in Military Surgery. As many used this in the service of the Confederacy as in the Union Army. The Class of 1869, which was photographed in front of the Long Island College Hospital, had

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completed the requirements for both an MD degree and license. These included being at least 21 years old, having a three year tutorship under a reputable physician and completing two courses of lectures at a medical school, at least the second being at Long Island College Hospital. As years went by both the physical plant and curriculum changed. In 1879 the term was expanded from four to five months. No medical school in the country offered more instruction. Pathology was introduced as a separate course in that year. By 1882 autopsy attendance was mandatory, reflecting the increasing importance of the department. Graduation requirements now included passing of oral and written examinations in ten subjects. In 1886 a Department of Medical Jurisprudence was estab- lished which lasted until 1931. In 1888 the Hoagland Laboratory opened across the street from the main hospital on Henry Street. Originally intended as a bacteriology research center, it was later used to teach basic science to the medical students. One of the finest institutions of its kind, it was favorably compared with Johns Hopkins Hospital. The first director of the laboratory was Dr. George M. Sternberg, an authority on yellow fever and malaria. His most famous protege was Walter Reed, who interned at Kings County Hospital in 1871. Sternberg was the first in America to demon- strate the tubercle bacillus, living malaria plas- modium and Salmonella typhosa. In 1893 he became Surgeon General of the United States Army and appointed Reed to head the Army Yellow Fever Commission. The 1890's were a time of change in medical education. In 1891, under a new state law, a three year graded curriculum was inaugurated. In 1893, an equivalent of three years of high school was re- quired for entrance into medical school. In 1897 22