University of Maryland School of Medicine - Terrae Mariae Medicus (Baltimore, MD)

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Davidge Hall was the focal point of the campus in the early days of the medical school. The hospital building was located diagonally across from it on the corner of Lombard and Greene streets. Medical students lived in local boarding houses with three students to a room and an extra charge lev- ied for firewood. The students were characterized as mature and very serious in their studies. They faithfully attended lectures even though attendance was not required. Except for a final oral exam, all examinations were optional. These exams were designed “to inspire emulation and expose ignorance.” Eager for knowl- edge, the students clamored for extra lectures at night and for Saturday exams. Their daily routine included seven courses, not the least of which was Anatomy. It was a favorite course of the students and required a great deal of time. Long eve- nings were spent by the students in the d issecting laboratory. The city yielded an astonishing abundance of cadavers pro- cured by local “bodysnatchers.” September 15, 1960 Dr. Figge delivers the opening lecture for the Department of Anatomy. The first Baltimore Infirmary, which later became University Hospital, was the first hospital in the United States to be built purposely for the bedside instruction of medical students. After two years of study, a thesis in Latin was required as a “test of the student’s general education.” Often these doc- uments were one hundred pages or more in length. The final exam itself was an ordeal for the student. On exami- nation day the entire faculty gathered at a long table to query each student on his knowledge of medicine and sci- ence. A majority vote allowed the student to pass; in case of a tie the student was permitted to take a second exam. Of the ordeal Professor Dunglison noted, “The students frequently lost their composure and sometimes their dinner as well.” Graduation was a gala affair attended by the fashionable elite of Baltimore as well as friends and relatives of the graduates. Professor Davidge, father of the University, was j loudly applauded every year for he was well-loved by his | students. Most of the graduates went on to practice medi- i cine, though it was not considered a prestigious or profit- | able profession in the nineteenth century. | Indeed, the University was fondly remembered by its | alumni. In 1837, recalling his days at the University a doc- I tor wrote, “. . . Under the beautiful dome they have spent | many hours of happiness.” I|