Wake Forest School of Medicine - Gray Matter Yearbook (Winston Salem, NC)

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- Q14 .L . .Q Pennsylzlnnia Hospital in Plziladelpltitz - the oldest institution interztied solulu for the care of the sick and wounded in the United States. Surgeon's Hall on Fifth Street, Pltiladelpltia. Q-26,5 Wy f,96m Q4 om. 27,99 Sf'Z2Z'5,., f ' 'f'r 6' MMM 123' D! I , 4 f 1-'ffl mf1Af','f'.,'Z1f'f Z.f. .?'.?f'f 'u.f'.fae Irina -I Q. 1 fy , r Nr Aft' wwe ' U' uf-if-'Q t jf2 'j3. '4 61. ttlllorr d I ,664 G, 4:-'LfW'f 'a-zMZl:?f'x'faW74f.?5 0 I ' 1 c ' . ' 4414.11 dafq., 'z.xgg.ff4JZu-iilifif tiff. 2: bf: CzAAjq4.4::uHQn ?f.4jTJWZ:l2face.g I -v ug. ana. nl cbN?n?el,crpo4f'af667: .JG le'j22lf.v 2? . tefbnl-471441 ,oe lu mf In of 'GSAQQIW A671915 rrpgifn A171 . gz'V '5U3 nm.. M. Cfffaf, Certificate of medical proficiency granted by Dr. Cristopln-r Witt to his pupils for medical and astral sciences. Medical education prior to the foundation of medical colleges had been through the preceptorial sys- tem under which the future doctor was apprenticed to an older man for four to seven years. Only a few, such as Benjamin Rush, aug- mented their training by studying in Edinburg, Paris or Germany. By 1775, there were an estimated thirty-five hundred physicians in this country, of which only four hundred held a university medical degree. In 1765 Dr. john Morgan and Dr. William Shipper founded the first medical school in the United States at the College of Philadelphia. Shortly thereafter other fine medical centers de- veloped at Harvard University and New York, the latter training Samual Bard who was physician to George Washington. In the 1860's, the Civil War con- tributed to the degeneration and dissolution of the medical centers that developed in the South. The rapid westward expansion of the country and absence of legal regu- lation lowered medical educational standards. The quality of the medi- cal schools can be reflected by their quantity. There were over four hundred medical schools in the United States in the nineteenth century. It was not until 1930 that the number had been reduced to seventy-six well-qualified institu- tions. 7

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ZOO Years of Medicine 1776 1976 lt would be inadequate to celebrate our na- tion's Bicentennial without considering America's contributions to medicine. In the short history of our country numerous medical events in the United States have had a bearing on international medicine. Although we cannot boast the epoch-creators such as Pasteur, Koch and other transatlantic workers, America has produced several notable record makers with William Beaumont, Walter Reed, Ephraim McDowell, W.H. Welch and others. However, it must be remembered that the sources of the strength of American medicine are to be found in the studies pursued abroad in Great Britain, France and later Germany. In the early Colonial period there were very few physicians or surgeons. Health conditions were horrendous, with onefhalf of the May- tlower's passengers dying within three months of their arrival. For the most part, the only educated persons in the tloundering colonies were the clergy and it is not surprising that the principle palpators and practitioners of medicine also preached from the pulpit. Thus the first American medical publication, a broadside on smallpox, was written by a physician-clergyman, Thomas Thatcher, in 1677. At the beginning of the National period civilization and cultural wealth in America had proliferated considerably and thus the medical field progressed also. The versatile Benjamin Franklin inspired the establishment of the first hospital in the United States in Philadelphia in 1752. As an inventor, Franklin also contributed bifocal lenses to the medical profession. The most famous doctor of the American Revolution was Benjamin Rush, A typical rep- resentative of the Enlightenment, Rush signed the Declaration of Independence. Besides poli- tics, he also espoused in the areas of psychia- try and anthropology. 6 Bvrimmm Rush H745-18131. Bmiiarnln Franklin 11706-17901

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