| Summary: | Letter from Dr. N. P. Colwell, secretary of the American Medical Association's Council on Medical Education, to Dr. Edgar P. Hogan. This 4-page letter was signed by Colwell and sent on AMA CME letterhead on May 17, 1910.The digitization of this collection was funded in part by a grant from the National Library of Medicine.American Medical Association
Council on Medical Education
535 Dearborn Ave.
Chicago
May 17, 1910
Dr. E.P. Hogan, Secretary
Birmingham Medical College,
Birmingham Ala.
Dear Doctor Hogan: -
Replying to your letter of May 11th will say that we shall be very glad indeed to receive and to give full consideration to any statements you may prepare of the work being done at Birmingham Medical College. In order to prevent any possible misunderstanding, however, the following may point out more clearly the changes which, according to the investigations made by the Council, your college could make with the greatest advantage so as to compare more favorably with the average of conditions found in all the medical schools of the United States and Canada.
1. Preliminary requirements and records: -
(a) It is conceded that your school could not enforce a four-year high school entrance requirement at the present time but should rigidly enforce the standard of entrance to the University of Alabama College of liberal arts and advance your standards as the University advances its standards until a full four-year (14 unit) high school education as a minimum is actually required of every medical student. This should apply to those granted advanced standing from other medical colleges. See Outline Sections 1-2.
(b) A careful record should be kept of the credentials of every matriculant so that information could readily be obtained regarding the entrance qualifications of each student enrolled.
2. Attendance at Sessions and Classes: - Sections 3, 5 and 9 of the outline apply to this subject and scarcely need comment. The printed announcement should contain notice to the effect that students would not be admitted after the first week of the college session. The attendance of any student should not be less than “30 weeks of actual work aside from holidays”. Could not your sessions be lengthened also three or four weeks since we cannot figure out more than 28 weeks in your school after excluding holidays? When we note that attendance there is not kept track of till after December 1st, we are not sure that every student gets more than 20 weeks of actual work.
3. Granting of Advanced Standing: - Advanced standing should be only from other acceptable colleges, your school to pass on entrance credentials of such candidates and be responsible for such. If conditioned by the college from which he came the student granted advanced standing should be required to make up such conditions. If required by the first college to repeat a course, your school should likewise require it. In fact the student should be required to successfully complete all the courses of a four-year medical curriculum and should gain no special favors by changing to another college.
4. A fully graded curriculum: - The curriculum is now only partly graded since the first and second year men are taught together and the third and fourth year men, whereas each year’s course should be distinct and separate, the sophomore course not to be taken until the freshman course has been satisfactorily completed and so on until the four courses have been taken.
5. Laboratories and laboratory equipment: - Laboratories for physiology, physiologic chemistry and pharmacology are still needed although you have already planned for the first named. Laboratory equipment throughout is somewhat scant as compared with the average medical college. See next paragraph however.
6. All-time, salaried, expert, laboratory teachers:- The Council feels that the first essential of an acceptable medical college is a body of 5 or 6 professors of the laboratory branches whose entire time and chief interests are devoted to the training of the medical students. Without good teachers, of what particular value are equipment and laboratories? With such teachers, fairly supported, they may be depended on to develop libraries and museums and to secure such apparatus as needed to properly teach medicine. No other one thing would give the Birmingham Medical College a greater reputation than the securing of 5 or 6 strong medical educators for the laboratory branches; nothing would so attract larger numbers of medical students; nothing would strengthen the school more in respect to the future development of medical education in Alabama. It is hoped, by all who have carefully investigated the matter, that Birmingham may eventually become the seat of a high grade medical school which shall be the medical department of the University of Alabama.
Regarding clinical facilities and other needs sections 16 and 24 inclusive of the Outline scarcely need further comment.
Dr. Hogan, our Council fully appreciates the fact that the changes outlined require the expenditure of large sums of money, but much can be done by student fees along, if they are used to pay laboratory teachers and to equip laboratories. The time is already here when deserving colleges are going to get endowments, and we hope the Birmingham Medical college can get into line for its share. With our personal acquaintance with you, with Drs. Talley, Morris, Wyman and others, we are all the more hopeful that better conditions will be brought about.
I am enclosing herewith some news clippings regarding recent developments at another medical college which was in quite a similar position as that which your school occupies. Drake University voted to quit but the students started a campaign which has resulted in gifts of over $150,000 for the maintenance of the medical school. You will remember I spoke to Dr. Wyman, in presence of yourself and Dr. Talley, about starting a campaign in Birmingham for the purpose of developing a strong medical college there, and then to make an effort to become the medical department of the State University.
Will you kindly have the matters presented to your faculty and let me know what is decided. You may depend on our Council to aid you in any way possible.
Awaiting with interest your reply and with best wishes, I am
Very truly yours,
N.P. Colwell [signed]
Secretary
Council on Medical Education.
Encl.
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