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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 1904)
TEB SUNDAY OEEGONIAtf, PORTLAND", FEBRTJAKT "21, 190?. 31 TODAYS OPPORTUNITIES FOP UOClNG MEN Article. U Dr. Andrew C Smith Speaks of the Medical Profession as a Career. CC T"8 a Puzzle to know- -what profes- I flon or line of -work offers the best opportunity to a young man now adays" said Dr. Andrew C Smith, phy- dclax, surgeon, and. president of the State Board of Health; "a great puzzle." Now the doctor talks by the book, for he has two nephews whom ho has en deavored to launch upon the Sea of Suc cess, and for one of them he selected the medical profession as a means "where by the young man might attain both fame and riches. Just at present the nephew is laboring In Industrial paths having found the study of medicine too exacting. "A physician," said Dr. Smith, "must have an analytical mind. It Is the one requisite without which no student can become a capable doctor no matter how hard he may study." "What other special Qualifications should a young man have who wishes to enter the medical profession?" I asked, and the doctor said there were none. "Of course," said he, "one must have the power of close application, but then all professions and industries require that for success. The only special talent which is needed in the practice of medi cine is the ability to analyze, the gift of inverse deduction, the power to tell what the invisible cause of a visible effect, si other words to tell why a man Xj sick. It is the foundation of all medical treatment and a man's ability as a practitioner depends almost entirely upon this slnglo faculty. "Without it a physician must always remain a blun derer. And there are blunderers In the profession." The doctor sighed over the last sentence as though he longed to write a book on "Blunderers I Have Met," and to illus trate it with sketches from life. Medical Profession Is Attractive. "Then supposing- that a young man has tho necessary analytical mind," I said, "what Inducements does the practice of medicine offer him?" "A good living," said Dr. Smith, "an interesting work, a continuous opportun ity to benefit his fellows, and a chance of fame a better chance than is presented by any other pursuit. If we except the Army and Navy." "And what," said I, as envy grew with in me, "must a man do to gain these re wards? How long must he study, and where, and what will It cost him?" "He must study four years," said the doctor. "All reputable schools, I think, have extended their course to four years, with the idea of making the education re Quired for entry to the medical profes sion more thorough than has previously been the case. A physician always should have been thoroughly educated. In fu ture they must be; or at least they must bo to the extent that any common schools can educate. Common sense and contact with the world are educational factors which each man must always provide for himself." "Next," I continued, "where should a young man study medicine?" American and European Schools. "In any good American or European Bchool." "How do .the two methods compare? JWhich schools make the best doctors?" " "Eurtipcan Schools are better than the American colleges In some ways, and In others they are worse. They turn out more scientists, and, I think, less quali fied, practical physicians and surgeons. The European systems of medical Instruc tion are better fitted to Inculcate a dis position for original research than the American schools are. The Old "World students prod more minutely into theories and are less practical than those in this country. It is an uncommon thing for a European young man to be turned out of his medical schools a practical and quali fied physician, but it is common in Amer ica." "How much does it cost to make a doc tor out of an ordinary young man of ordinary education?" "About J4000 on an average," said Dr. j - - - . . . I,,, Smith, "but if the young man ""is only of ordinary ability and possesses only an or dlnary education, he will make only a mediocre physician, and it will take him some time to get his money back." -Where does the J5C00 go? It doesn't cost that much to make a lawyer," said I. . "Why should it?" asked the doctor. "But about the $4000?" "A medical student's expenses for tui tion, dissecting material, books and liv ing expenses are about $1000 a year, and the four years' course makes the total $4000." "Can this expense be cut down at all, on does It cost $4000 to make every doc tor?" "I have known cases where a medical student has gone through collego on half that sum," said Dr. Smith, "but it is hard to do", and is getting harder every year. The men who did it have been fortunate enough to get positions In hos pitals, which saves them all expense for board or dissecting materal. These posi tions, however, go by favoritism in many cases, and are not open to all students in any instance. Other students add to their revenues by doing Janitor work, and oth ers by assisting in administering anes thetics. The number of opportunities to do these things, however, is very limited." "Does it make any difference what school a student goes to?" "Not in the matter of expense," said the doctor. "All the good schools charge about the same for tuition, and the other expenses do not vary much. As far as the instruction of the varioua institutions is concerned, there Is about the same dif ference that there is between secular col leges. One school specializes one thing and another pays more attention to some thing else. Of course there are schools where the tuition Is cheaper and the course shorter, but they aro not recog nized by the American Medical Associa tion." Country Doctors Make Money. Four thousand dollars seemed a consid erable sum of money to invest in giving a young man a special education which he might and might not appreciate. "How long will It take the average medical stu dent to get his money back?" I asked. "The returns are sometimes speedy, and always reasonably certain." said Dr. Smith, "especially in the country where tho people are forced to patronize the physician who may happen to have lo cated In the vicinity. In other words there is little competition in the country dis tricts where many points are not well sup plied with doctors." To a question as to whether these re cently hatched doctors who began their practice in country towns and districts usually remained thore, Dr. Smith made a noncommittal reply. "As far as I have noticed," said he. "there seems to bo a pretty constant pro gression In the profession. A doctor who begins In the backwoods moves by sue- cesslve steps to small settlements and then to larger towns." 'What difference Is there between the Dr. Avfirew C Smith was bom on & farm In Wisconsin of Irish parents. In 1S56. In 1SG3 the family caat to Ore gon. He studied medicine is Sao. Francisco from 1S74 to 2ST7, and after trad tinting practiced In California until 1SSS. In this year be went to Europe to study in special lines, and on his return to . America cazne to Portland, where he has practiced erer since. Jn 1900 Ir. Smith -eras elected to the State Senate, of which body he is still a member1. He was elected president of the State Board of Health In 1903. and was re-elected to that offlce this year. practice of a country doctor and that of a city practitioner?" "None.'' said Df. Smith. "Practically none. The diseases are the same, the pa tients all have their parallels. There is, however, quite a difference In the experi ence which Is gained by the physician, and here the country practitioner has all the best of it. The country doctor Is brought into a general practice and can not confine himself entirely to one line of work. In this way his perspective of the human body is less cramped and better. Now look at the result Most of the great names in medicine are those of men who have early in their careers been country doctors. "Slmms, the greatest gynecologist of the age. was a master mind on this sub ject while he was still an obscure prac titioner In a country town. Gross, the great surgeon of Philadel phia, was a country doctor. So was Mc Dowell, of Kentucky, who was the most advanced abdominal surgeon of his day. "Wyeth, one of the most conspicuous surgeons of New York, began his career as a country doctor, and J. D. Murphy, one of the most noted surgeons of Chica go, began to practlco In a little town in Wisconsin. "Another conspicuous Instance of this Is Koch, who was an obscure practitioner when he developed the baclllary theory, and discovered the bacillus of consump tion. "The experience of a city physician Is too narrow. The operative cases go to the surgeons, tho ophthalmic cases to the oculist, the distinctive female diseases to the gynecologist, and so on. The special ist is in danger of becoming too special and may even sometimes lack that Inti mate knowledge of organs outside his spe cialty which may bo necessary to combat disease within his own field." "Who Is the greatest doctor in the world?" I asked the doctor. "There Isn't any," said the man of medi cine with much brevity. "Surely," I argued, "medicine must have some pre-eminent master mind. Lit erature has its Shakespeare, war has Its Caesar and Napoleon, the racetrack has Its Nancy Hanks, music has Its Wagner j and the Republicans of Clackamas Coun- . ty have George C BrownelL Who In the world of medicine corresponds to these great names?" But the doctor was obdurate. "There is no master mind in the world of medicine," said he. "There is no Shakespeare of the scalpel, no Napoleon of the materia medlca. The growth of opportunity and the spread of knowledge have kept great number of brilliant thinkers In the front rank of our profession. There Is no greatest doctor. There is' instead a host of absolutely competent physicians, even great physicians." And not when I urged that there must be pioneers In surgery, trail-makers In medicine, would Dr. Smith recede from bis position. "There are of course pioneers," he ad mitted, "but that they are but little In ad vance of their fellows Is shown by .the ease with which the profession as a whole follows any new method of treatment or operation. Dr. Lorenz demonstrated method of treating congenital dislocations of the hip; which he was especially skill ful at, and before his -visit to this coun try was concluded many American pbysl dans had successfully copied his work. It was different once. Tears ago Bilroth towered above all others In the profes sion, but there Is no such figure today. "Do surgeons become insensible to the suffering of others In time?" I asked. "Does the continual contact with pain and disease dull the sympathy of a medical man?" "Doctors are human," replied Dr. Smith, "Familiarity breeds contempt In soma cases, and in others it lends additional sympathy because one knows that the trouble Is incurable, or because one real lzes that the progress of the disease will be rapid and fatal." With the swaggcringly Impervious medl cal tyro who loudly announces his indif ference to scenes of horror Dr. Smith has little patience. "Insensibility is nothing to be proud of," said the doctor. "It Is a very danger ous sentiment to cultivate and most dls gustlng to hear expressed. The man who possesses it in any considerable degree Is a commercial element in surgery which Is always to be dreaded. Many peoplo have an Idea that In order to become a good physician a young man should not mind the sight of blood and so forth. As a matter of fact, a number or perhaps most of our great surgeons have been among the most timid of beginners. "Some young students, of course, have not attained years of discretion and may still remain in that period when the young human is the most deliberately cruel of all animals. Their bravado is rarely permanent for as they come to know more both of medicine and of life, they also come to realize what suffering really Is. Sympathy Is as necessary a quality for a good physician as for a good nurse. Women as Nurses. "Do women make better nurses than men?" "I think they do," replied Dr. Smith "And yet if we want to get the best stenographer or the best music teacher or the best cook ' For fear of embroiling tho doctor with the womanhood of Portland the rest- of his sentence will not be set forthl -' "A man has the ability to make a good nurse, said the doctor in conclusion, "but as a rule he Is not satisfied to remain-a nurse." "What discovery has had the greatest influence upon medicine in the last 50 years?" "The discovery of anesthetics, I think," replied the doctor. "This discovery has been followed by a marvelous but logi cal advance In surgical work, and many of our most Valuable operations would be impossible and unknown if it were not for the deadening anesthetic. It almost unnerves a surgeon today to operate without it." "How does a doctor's income compare with that of a lawyer?" "Very favorably. A physician has more charity cases than a lawyer, but he also receives more small fees. Exclud ing the cases for which he makes no charge, a physician gets $2 or $2.50 for every office consultation, and In the ag gregate the return from this mounts up to a sum which fully equals the income of the average attorney whose fees may WAR DISPATCHES THAT ESCAPED CENSOR'S EYE Unshaved Cheeks of Russian Moujik Utilized for Transmission of News. (Before the outbreak of the war be tween Russia and Japan, the Double yoa Or Burst Syndicate, anticipating the censorship declared by the Hus sion government, sent Dolly Green, the famous special writer, to St. Pe tersburg, with instructions to spare no expense or imagination in making and transmitting news. All Import ant messages were to be tattooed upon tho faces of monjlks, who were to be shaved for the purpose. As the Russian's beard grown with astonish ing' rapidity, the chosen moujlks could safely be dispatched through the Busslan lines to the offices of the newspapers subscribing for the Burst sen-ice.) The Telegraph Editor of the Daily Dream was seated at his desk, when a messenger boy entered the room. Gee," said tho boy to the man at the desk, "you'se got a peach of a pack agecoming up wid de mallcarrler, I means,' he added,' hastily, as he saw the look of anger on the face of the editor, who smoked but did not drink. With a sigh of trouble, the editor left unfinished an astral telegram he was just receiving, arid went to the door. In the passage a mallcarrler was struggling along with a huge, fur-clad man. on his back. Dumping him at the feet of the Telegraph Editor, he wiped his brow and remarked that he thought he'd quit the service pretty soon. The Telegraph Editor gazed at the huge bearded man that stood before him, and not until the peasant had turned his back did he realize that he had an important dispatch before him. On the peasant's back was this legend: To tho Manactn? Editor of the Dallr Dream. NEWS MATTER RUSH. "News Matter Russian,' all right," observed the messenger kid, but the Telegraph Editor was already excited by tho possibilities before him. He saw the state "scooped" the following morning under eight-foot type, one let ter to a page. He had, in fact, the head already written in his desk. He felt it was so good that the news- should be made to fit It, rather than the head changed to fit the news. Hast ily grabbing the peasant, the Tele graph Editor, accompanied by a pho tographer and eight assistants, started for a Washington-street barber-shop. It was then 9 A. so there was plenty of time. Entering the shop, he threw the peasant Into a chair, and cried to the proprietor that the man must be shaved Instantly. The pro prietor looked at the Russian, then at the clock, shook his head and said. "we close at 7." "It must be done," shouted tho Tel egraph Editor, "that chap's a dis patch." "He looks more like an ad for a hair restorer,' puC in one of tho barber I mi mi r s DE. ANDREW C. SMITH. be larger, but are not nearly so numer ous. A man is sick much oftener than he Is In legal trouble. The attorney re ceives a bigger fee. than a doctor, and In most cases his work Is not more valu able nor as responsible. "Speaking generally, I would say that the Income of tho small doctor Is better than that of the small lawyer, In the middle grades of both professions the In come does not differ materially, while the most successful lawyers probably make "He must be shaved," asserted the Telegraph Editor. "Run out and hire a lawn mower," put in the facetious barber. "You're a funny shavor, ain't you?" sneered the Telegraph Editor. "Well, Til put three men to work on him," said tho boss at length, "but It looks to me as If the man's beard will keep growing qulcker'n it can be shaved off." With that the three quickest "barbers in the shop went to work, and as tho hair fell away and before it could grow again each line was photographed. This is what the films told: SPECIAL WAR NEWS BUREAU OP THE DOUBLE-YOU OR BURST SYNDICATE. COPYRIGHT IN US. S.. 1004, BY UU. R. BURST. GREAT BRITAIN' RIGHTS RE SERVED. By hairiest leased Russian in the world. St. Petersburg, Feb. 20. if arrived here exclusively after an exclusive trip through exclusive territory. Rep resenting myself to' be a Russian army officer, disguised as a military man, I obtained a free ride in an exclusive drosky. Immediately after reaching thp headquarters of the telephone com pany, I rang up the Winter Palace. "Helloskyl" came over the wire, "this is the Czar." " "Lo Czar," I piped up, "I represent tho Burst service. I want to interview you. Shake up your phone, there, I can't hear a word at all." "Phoneskys all right," said the Czar, "It's the anti-war party exploding bombs against my armored window." "Well," I replied, "I'll blow up that way and see you." "Blow up!" muttered the Czar of all the Rushers, "oh, yes, blow in, you mean. All right, I'll expect you." And then dropping Into English, "Confound this racket!" Then he rang off the first exclusive tele phone conversation with tho Czar ever tattooed for any paper. (The last line is somewhat illegible as I jabbed the moujlk rather too hard with the electric tattooing needle.) I was about to leave tho telephone office when I was knocked down and kicked by three gigantic men in police uniform. Stifling my cries they brought me before the "dreaded chief of the Third Section," the head of the Russian secret service, familiar to me from many meetings In the pages of "Exiled to Siberia," and the "Bloody Knout, or the Bear's Hiding." "I represent the Burst synalcate," and the dreaded chief quailed as I made the exclusive announcement. "Foiled," he muttered, and ordered six helpless women to be brought in and knouted to death. I obtained an exclusive statement of her feelings from one of them, and will dispatch It by leased moujlk on the first opportunity. Leaving this scene I sprang Into a samovar and drove rapidly to the Winter Palace, which is so called because Its offi cials give visitors the frozen face. I found the Czar in an Iron mask and bomb proof pants. As ho knew little English and I knew no Russian, we were at a j more money than the greatest doctors. I am not certain, however, if it came down to a question of money making, that the greatest doctors could not make a great deal more than they generally do. They are usually too deeply Interested In scientific research and study to pay suffi cient attention to the financial end of their business, and their Incomes are often far exceeded by those of physicians of no comparative worth, but fashionable practice." A. C. ' loss for some time as to how X should obtain a statement of policy. Fortunately I had not forgotten my French, picked up exclusively from the menus of Port land's North End restaurants. "Consomme a la reine," said I, with a bow. "Bos blf au jus," responded his im perial majesty. "Pqmmes de terre au gratin," I ven tured to remark. The Czar smiled. Evidently I was on tho right tack. "Cafe noir," I. -continued. "Corn on the cob," he graciously re sponded." "Bombs glaces," said T. The Czar fainted. In referring to bombs I had made a fatal error. I did not stop running until I had -traversed 4Ys vers ts. (Please turn over cheek more.) Exclusive news indicates that the. seat of war Is patched with Russian victories. Japanese vessels attacked the fleet at Port Arthur, but the Russian ships com pletely foiled the enemy by disappearing beneath the surface. Lake Baikal is breaking up fast. The Ivan Ivanovitches are crossing on small pieces of Ice, holding their whiskers to the breeze for sails. Several thousands have fallen beneath the floating Ice, and it Is feared they will die unless pulled out. Many of the surviving soldiers are said to be proceeding on skates; Indeed, It is hard to find an officer that has not got a skate on. I found myself In pos session of one last night, greatly to my surprise, as I merely sipped two or three tubs full of vodka. "Viceroy Alexleff Is likely to bo relieved, as his war reports are not satisfactory. The Czar thinks of giving the Job to a member of the Burst syndicate. I am getting to the end of my cheek the moujlk's, of course but this news will enable the Burst syndicate to skin the world. I hope you will be able to take it out of the messenger's hide when you get him. DOLLY GREEN. Tho world was scooped. The telegraph editor gave the moujlk a dime, and rushed for his office. The moujlk ap peared on the street and before his whis kers grew an enormous crowd collected to read the dispatch. Chief Hunt hap pened to be passing and had the stranger arrested for peddling news without a license, but the casefell to the ground next day, as not a word was visible when the prisoner appeared in court. "You may go this time." said Judge Hogue. but remember, you've had a close shave." Strolling down Third street, the moujlk saw a dime restaurant. Anxious to fill up on something besides hot air, he en tered, but the moment he was seen by the Japanese waiters a volley of plates. beans and pie drove him to the door. The last that was seen of the "hairiest leased moujlk in the world" was a fleeting vis- Ion of a crlnlte figure dashing down the Whitehouse Road, pursued by a hundred patriotic cooks and waiters. WEXFORD JONES.
