Advancing Requirements for Entrance to the Medical Course
By W. A. Ruble
There is a tendency among educators toward a higher standard of education in all branches of learning. The times in which we are living demand this. It is a noticeable fact that in all grades of school work the students in the respective grades are much younger than was the case a few decades ago. Young people are completing the ordinary high-school course at a much younger age than formerly. For this reason and others, it is necessary to provide for more advanced education than heretofore, and to urge upon young people the necessity of securing a thorough training before entering upon their life-work. In no preparation for service is there greater need of a thorough education than for missionary endeavor. Seventh-day Adventists are primarily a missionary people. Their means is given for the advancement of the gospel message. Their lives are devoted to the carrying on of the present truth to the world in this generation. Their children are dedicated from birth to the advancement of the truth. There is no people that need a more thorough preparation for service than do Seventh-day Adventists. They must go to the uttermost parts of the world to carry the message. They must associate with the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the sick and the well. For these reasons the young people of the rising generation among us should receive a thorough preparation for service. This is evident in every department of our denominational work. At the recent General Conference urgent calls were made for young men and women with a thorough preparation to go to needy fields. Missionaries in attendance at that great council urged the necessity of a more thorough preparation for service. Missionaries of other denominations are well trained. Many of them are college graduates. Repeatedly the comparison was made between some of these missionaries and a few of our own who have gone to these foreign fields without adequate training. It was urged by these men from the front that our young people be given a thorough preparation in our schools. In medical education especially is the movement for advancement conspicuous. Governments are recognizing the responsibility placed upon medical men in carrying the lives of their fellow men in their hands, and these governments are requiring that very thorough preparation for such responsibility shall be required of men and women to whom such responsibilities are given. Not only are governments prescribing the courses of study in medical courses, but they are also demanding that certain thorough preliminary preparation for medical study shall be provided. Up to the present time most of the medical colleges in this country have held as a standard for entrance to medical studies a high-school education, covering twelve grades of work. The requirements, however, have been raised of late, and after Jan. 1, 1914, it will be necessary for students entering upon the study of medicine to have completed at least one year of college work before entering. This must comprise a year’s study in biology, chemistry, advanced physics and language. In 1915 the requirements will be raised one more year, making it necessary for students entering the study of medicine to have at least two years of college work. It will be seen that this fall is the latest date when students may enter upon the study of medicine with no more than a high-school education, covering thirty points of academic work; hence the necessity for all who plan to take up the study of medicine to give this matter thorough consideration and begin the study of medicine not later than this autumn, unless they desire to take one or more years of college work before entering. There is a provision in most colleges that where students have had fourteen grades,—that is, a high-school education and two years of college work,—they may be granted during the medical course a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Upon their graduation they are given the degree Doctor of Medicine. This provides for what is known as a combined course, leading to the degree B. A. or B. S. and M. D.786 In this way a young person can save two years if he desires the two degrees by taking fourteen years of study in a literary college, then completing the medical course, which gives him the combined degree. Such a provision is made by the College of Medical Evangelists at Loma Linda, Cal., and a number of our students have already availed themselves of this privilege, and many others are doing so. It is quite desirable that students generally follow this plan. Where a student desires to complete the full college course before entering upon the study of medicine, this may be done. The prospects for a fairly large class in the college the coming year at Loma Linda are good. Our facilities are fast being perfected for giving a thorough medical course. There is one of the best laboratories in the West in connection with the college. A new seventy-bed hospital will be completed for use by the opening of the college year this fall. A new dispensary is being fitted up in the city of Los Angeles, where part of the course will be given. A number of strong teachers are being added to the faculty this year, which will greatly strengthen the course. While we would not urge upon any to take up the study of medicine, we are very desirous that every Seventh-day Adventist young person who contemplates the study of medicine will prepare to enter our own medical school. Much instruction has been given on this point and should be heeded. The new calendar for 1913-14 of the college has been completed, and will be sent to any who contemplate entering this school in the near future. All desiring to enter the medical course must secure a State medical student’s certificate, which is accepted by this college for entrance. If you cannot secure one in your own State, you should apply for a Michigan or a California certificate. A medical-evangelist course is also offered. Those entering this course must have completed at least ten grades of preparatory work. A large number of young people should secure this training to go out as medical evangelists into the large cities and mission fields. We invite correspondence regarding this course. A strong nurses’ course is conducted in connection with the institution. This is a three-year course, and is based upon ten grades of preparatory education. Applications for entrance to this course will be received for a short time. The course begins August 24. A number of young men are especially desirable for the next class. The college also offers a strong post-graduate course for those nurses who have completed their work in other acceptable schools. Other courses, such as a cook’s course and a special missionary course are offered. None but consecrated young people who are seeking a preparation for service in connection with the work of the denomination are desired. It is not the object of the college to give merely a technical medical training, but to prepare missionaries with a very thorough medical training to go out to labor in this message in all parts of the world. Correspondence is solicited. W. A. RUBLE, M. D.
Loma Linda, Cal.