University Medical College - Scalpel Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

Page 89 text:

.ToHN M. SLf'r'roN. EE cb B IT Sutton is 21 living example of a gentle- man. He is one of the few real students in the class. A friend to every body and loved and respected by faculty as well as student bodv. . r ' l - 3-1 X llifgl fa l llvfiig ll' l e efmllll lf' l lllls- E 1'fF'x fl ' x e l g -1- lin ieY' Ml -ll f .M 5' ,y Vx N five-K '-- l HRMLNTER l q'0 S

Page 88 text:

Wiiislow has done Qoocl work especially in Opthalmology since he entered this class. Member of Society for Prevention of Sleep EDBIOND EDWARD SWEENEY, Ravenwood, Mo. Sweeney taught for seven years, and it will take him seven years more to read his notes. He has written volumes upon vol- umes of notes. L. HERBERT WILBUR, Kansas City, Mo. EE VVilbur is taking a five years' course an hopes to finish up this year.

Page 90 text:

-o ve' Efhe Bldg nf the lihgairizrn az ez Qliiizrn BY J. PHILLIP KANOKY, Professor of Dermatology. F all the multitudinous demands made upon the time and sympathies of the physi- cian none is more important than that which calls on him to exercise his in- dividual right as a voter and a responsible member of the community in which he strenuous life which usually falls to the lot of the practitioner of medicine the duties of citizenship are liable to be neglected and the privilege of the free-born American relegated to the office seeker and his horde of followers. People generally, and the physician in particular have long labored under the im- pression that the only duty that legitimately belonged to the medical man was the one performed as an attendant to the sick, that whenever the physician departed from this well established rule and took part in any controversy that was n-ot strictly in line with his professional duties, he lowered the dignity of the profession of which he was a mem- he resides. In t ber. This erroneous idea has existed so long that it has become an accepted factor in governing the daily conduct of the physician. Nevertheless, I believe that such a conclusion is erroneous, and detrimental, not only to the physician, but likewise to the community in which he dwells. The physician is expected to be a learned man-a man who, by training and ex- perience, is far above the average in mentality and discriminative judgment. That be- ing the case, he is far better fitted to perform the duties of a citizen than those people less favored. For that very reason the physician would be a safe man in politics. Be- cause of his judgment, his knowledge and his integrity, none are better fitted to deter- mine the questions that confront the officers of a municipality. Furthermore, by tak- ing part in the municipal government of his city, he places himself in a position where he may demand to a far greater extent the respect of the professonal politician, which is not now accorded the physician. I believe the doctor should have a voice in state legislation, and further, that the government of all eleemosynary institutions, hospitals and asylum-s, should be placed absolutely under the jurisdiction of the medical profession. As it is now, these insti- tutions are under the control of politicians, who in many instances have no idea of the inmates' requirements, and who probably care less. All of these institutions should be removed from without the influence of the professional politician. To make this possi- ble, it is necessary that physicians should be elected as representatives of our state gov- ernment, that they may give their advice and counsel in the procurement of judicious leg- islation for the protection of the people. It has been my experience, on several occa- sions, in the legislative halls of our state, at Jefferson City, to learn the insignificant influence wielded by the medical profession. Not even the most ordinary and neces- sary laws for the protection of the human family can be passed without solicitation of the influence of the professional politician. It is not only essentional that the medical profession should be a factor in politics, but also that it should act unitedly on all mat- ters concerning its own welfare. As an organization, the influence of the medical pro-