University of Oregon School of Nursing - Lamp Yearbook (Portland, OR)

Page 49 text:

school lor the practical training ol its students. The appointments of this new department could certainly be called modest, without undue exaggeration. lt had had its beginning two years before as an outgrowth of the Peoples lnstitute, a philanthropic organization located on liourth and Burnside streets in the center of what was as near to slums as Portland ever had. The lnstitute had organized clubs as activities lior the poor people, and it was the Mothers' Club and the Cwirls' Cooking Club ol? the Peoples lnstitute that gave a beneht bazaar and dinner to raise funds to start a clinic. The proceeds piled up to 1530. The janitor made a table. :X few medicines were purchased, and the clinic was declared open for patients. Two appeared for treatment the very nrst day. l-lfowever, it was dithcult to get good doctors to come down to see the free patients. l-lence, they welcomed aiiiliation with the medical school and from then on, the school regularly sent their physicians to the clinic. Students were allowed to come voluntarily for instruc- tion until three years later when attendance was made compulsory. Between forty and titty patients were now being seen in the clinic daily. Miss Valentine Pritchard was in charge of the work from the very start. For the Hrst four months of its existence, the clinic boasted a trained nurse, but she- had to leave temporarily and was replaced by Mrs. Etta McOmber until the nurse might return. That was thirty years ago. The nurse has not yet returned, and Mrs. McOmber has not yet been relieved of duty. lwACKENZlE HALL, 1924 ! i , at -1-1 ' lun sn0V E451

Page 48 text:

1 U MEDICAL SCHOOL IN 1921 of clinical work consisting of demonstrations in Good Samaritan and St. Mincent's Hospitals' until 1895 when another year of clinical work was added, bringing it up to a four-year course. . ln 1905, the American Medical Association began to take an interest in schools, and through its committee on medical education began its investigation into condi- tions existing in the various medical schools throughout the country. It was about this time that our patient began to develop difficulty in hearing. Criticism began pouring in from several sides, but it was exceedingly diflicult to keep pace with the standards demanded. Other medical schools were rapidly wilting away under the heat, and it was about this time that our patient began to notice shortness of breath, facilities, good standing and cash. It was impossible to maintain the required six salaried instructors or the laboratory facilities now necessary since this phase of medicine was advancing rapidly and being stressed. ln 1907, our patient became totally deaf and voted to resign from the Association of Medical Colleges. 1-lowever, in 1910, severe ringing in the ears was noted. ln that year, Abraham Flexner published his famous report on 'cMedica1 Education in the United States, which included an intense criticism and condemnation of the U. of O. school. Fortunately, in the same year. of our Lord, MCMX, the use of an out-patient service was secured for the nrst time, an addition sorely needed by the struggling 6 ' i- ' fb 2335 gli 'Inu 51109 1441

Page 50 text:

as st. smgaai ,, ! COMMUTERS' Bus, D8. LINDSAY MCARTHUR AT WHEEL Kiddies' tonsils and adenoids were snared without anesthetic. One winter, an average of eight smallpox cases was seen daily. The disease was very prevalent and the men contracted it from each other from their close association in the saloons of the neighborhood where many slept on the floor. Many inebriates came to the clinic and frequently one suddenly developed d. t.'s in the waiting room, startling the entire time-abiding assemblage with whooping and shouting. Still the patients came. ln the fall of 1911, an energetic man from Rush Medical College in the person of Dr. Richard B. Dillehunt joined the faculty as Professor of Anatomy, and in the following year, Dr. K. A. j. MacKenzie succeeded the retiring Dr. S. E. josephi as dean of the institution. The new dean was a man of vision and a prominent Portland physician. He was well aware of the plight of the school whose leader- ship he had just assumed and resolved on expansion and improvement. lt was toward this end that he secured the donation of twenty acres atop Marquam Hill to serve as a future campus for our patient, but thereby hangs a tale. lt was in the year 1883 in an eastern city that a group of directors of the O.-W. R. 81 N. Railroad were sitting around the conference table. They were in need of a site for machine shops and a depot for their projected new line from Portland to The Dalles. They placed their lingers on a map of Portland, pointing to a tract in the southwestern part of the city which was as yet unoccupied, and authorized its purchase. Imagine their surprise when they came to town to inspect their new ug-,,,,,:' E461