CANADA Medical and Surgical Journal. MONTREAL, MAY, 1879. COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS The annual meeting of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Province of Ontario was held on the 13th May and subsequent days, and some very remarkable business was transacted. It is reported that "Dr. William Clarke spoke at great length as to the visit of the deputation to Ottawa for the purpose of soliciting the repeal of the British Regulation Act, which repeal was earnestly desired by the Medical Profession of Canada." Avast there, as Jack would say, Dr. William Clarke does not represent the Medical Profession of Canada, however much he may the territorial division of Saugeen and Brock. What the "British Regulation Act' provides, we are unable to state, as we were not aware of the existence of such an act, however, we are led to infer the terms of its provisions, by the concluding portion of Dr. William Clarke's address. He stated that Sir John A. Macdonald had received the deputatation, and promised to get the act repealed so far as it concerned Canadian students. His Excellency the Governor-General also received the deputation, and, sympathising with the profession, promised to make the necessary representations to the Imperial Government to have the Act repealed." So that we are thus far provided with the fact that it is an Imperial Act, and that it in some way affects the Canadian student. But Dr. William Clarke goes a step farther and complains of the grievance to the effect, that, unless repealed Canadian students can actually go to Britain, pass the examinations and return and compel registration. This, then, is the gist of the whole matter: a Local Corporation composed of probably a fifth of the entire Medical Community of this Dominion, acting under a charter granted by the Local Provincial Parliament of the Province of Ontario, has the effrontery to send a deputation to the Government at Ottawa, which deputation assumes to represent the Medical Profession of Canada. We have no doubt that Sir John A. Macdonald took in the position at a glance, and to get rid of the importunity promised to look into the subject. We can only remark that if the Right Honourable gentleman does so, he will, we have no doubt, come to the conclusion that the British Regulation Act had better be left as it is, inasmuch as it does not in any way affect the interests of the Profession of this Dominion however much it may the self-imposed importance of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Province of Ontario. But we are told, moreover, that if such a thing were permitted, that is, that the Canadian student should exercise his right of citizenship and go to Britain for his education, that the Medical profession of this Dominion would be endangered thereby. This is a most remarkable statement, and we were amased to see it reported as coming from a man in perfect possession of his faculties. When we read this report in the Globe we came to the conclusion that the reporter was poking fun at Dr. William Clarke, but we notice that a literal copy appears in the columns of the Canadian Journal of Medical Science, so that we are forced to the conclusion that these were actually the utterances of Dr. William Clarke, late President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Province of Ontario. Well, all we can say is that these views are crude, and we hope that the good sound common sense of the profession in Ontario will not be influenced by any such undigested material. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is simply legislating to favour the educational institutions of Ontario. This would be well enough, if it did not lead to a lowering of the standard of education in that Province; and as we are all interested in that question, we in this other province of the Dominion have a right to speak. The Ontario men can afford to learn a practical lesson from the Japanese. That nation lived alone and avoided the contaminating influence of all outside barbarians, until they met with our neighbors south of 45°, when they learned that it was to their advantage to receive foreigners. Our Ontario brethren will in time discover that the true means of serving their own educational institutions, is by affording to their students as many advantages as they can get abroad, in fact, competing honourably and keenly with all outsiders, and cease to try and build up a false reputation by legislative restrictions. There is nothing to be apprehended in our students going to Britain for an examination, and any man who returns to this country with a British qualification ought to be admitted to registration at once, that is on what his papers show forth. The profession in Great Britain is asking for a change of the Medical Act of 1858 under which it is governed, and we have no doubt, that of the many bills of amendment at present before the Imperial House of Commons, bearing on matters medical, a useful and satisfactory measure will come forth. But, whatever is obtained from the Legislature, we do not think it likely that one of the prominent features of the present act, that of securing recognition of all Registered Practitioners in any portion of Her Majesty's Dominions will be surrendered, nor indeed is it necessary that it should be. The anomaly of obliging men who have attended a lengthy curriculum of study and who have passed before any of the examining bodies in Great Britain, to again submit to examination in any of the Colonies is to our mind very objectionable. We will not refer to the personelle of our Provincial Boards, they are elective bodies, and unfortunately the examiners are occasionally men who never attended a course of lectures; some who never passed any examination. We desire to see united action of the whole profession in this Dominion with a single door of entrance to the profession. By securing such a measure we believe the best interests of the profession would be served, and then we might reasonably expect recognition from the institutions of Great Britain. All university degrees ought to be honorary, conferring on the holders the right of using certain distinctions such as Doctors in Medicine or Masters in Surgery. But the possession of such a distinction need not confer the right to practice. All candidates ought to be compelled to pass before a common Board of Examiners to be composed of the leading men of the Profession and not, as is the case at present, of men taken from the rank and file, who, as a rule, are not qualified for the position they fill. If such had been the case in Ontario we would not have had at the last meeting of the College the lamentable. spectacle of a Committee being struck to enquire into the truthfulness of the allegations of certain delinquencies on the part of the Board of Examiners which in the Scotch acceptation of the term remained unproven. A PRIVATE HOSPITAL. The following circular was received from Mr. Samuel Strong, late Steward of the Montreal General Hospital, who has established in the city a private hospital for the better class of pay patients. Many persons have an objection to enter the wards of a public hospital; this objection is now removed in the opening of this house. This institution is a comfortable home situated in a pleasant locality, in the vicinity of the Windsor Hotel, and on the main avenue to the mountain park. The house is large, roomy and provided with every essential for an institution of this character. Mr. Strong is a middle-aged, but active and energetic man, and has had a large experience in the management of hospitals both in England and in this country. The nursing department is under the immediate supervision of Mrs. Strong, who formerly belonged to Miss Nightingale's establishment, and who is a thoroughly competent and reliable nurse. It is not the intention of the proprietors to admit infectious diseases, as they wish to retain it exclusively for surgical cases. We may observe that since the opening of the house, we have had under our charge several paients who came to us from the country for surgical relief, and they received every care and attention, and to us the order and regularity of the house was the same as is met with in other well conducted establishments. In making this announcement to our friends both in the city and country districts we trust they will lend a helping hand to render this home one of the aknowledged institutions of this city. 213 PEEL STREET, MONTREAL, 26th May, 1879. DEAR SIR,-I beg to inform you I have taken the house as above for the reception of paying patients, to be attended by their own medical advisers, and I ask your support. The nursing will be personally superintended by a well-known, trained hospital nurse. The terms will be $2.00 and $1.50 per day according to accommodation, exclusive of medicines, wines and spirits, etc. I remain, Dear Sir, Yours, faithfully, SAMUEL STRONG. PICTURES FROM THE PARISIAN HOSPITAL.-Professor (who has his class in the wards) to patient, "what is your occupation? Patient (who has pulmonary disease), "Musician, sir." Professor, to class: "There, gentlemen, at last I have the opportunity of demonstrating what I have often told you in the Lecture room, that the wear and tear on the respiratory tract caused by the blowing of musical instruments, is a fertile source of just such difficulty as our patient here labors under. To patient, what instrument do you play, sir?" Patient: "The bass drum!" |