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.