America's Only by Newton Evans, M. D.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 26, 1916

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 38.

America's Only

By Newton Evans, M. D.

Medical Missionary College

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS are, and have been for many years, a peculiarly medical missionary people. No other religious body has taken so keen an interest in matters pertaining to health, and incorporated advanced ideas of health in the body of their teaching, as has this people. This is shown by the great movement of fostering so-called sanitarium work, which includes a large number of these institutions in all parts of the world; and also by the way in which their medical work is connected with all their foreign missionary enterprises.

The wisdom of this organic connection between evangelistic and medical missionary work is shown by the rapid and healthy growth of the religious propaganda, and by the success of the work in foreign countries, and the permanent character of the body of communicants in these mission fields.

In view of these facts, it is most natural and fitting that this people is peculiarly active in conducting training schools for nurses, and is sending out from these schools great numbers of medical missionary nurses. And it is not surprising that they should be conducting and supporting a school which has the distinction of being the only school on this continent to give a medical education strictly from a missionary viewpoint — a medical missionary college. All students admitted to this school are admitted on the basis of preparation for Christian medical missionary work. No others are accepted.

This is the College of Medical Evangelists at Loma Linda, California, sixty miles from Los Angeles, in the San Bernardino Valley. However, the work of the school is not confined to Loma Linda. A large part of the clinical teaching is done in the city of Los Angeles. The laboratories are at Loma Linda, in conjunction with the Loma Linda Sanitarium and Hospital.

Just at this time, the college is beginning to erect adequate buildings for a dispensary and a small hospital in Los Angeles. It is necessary that this portion of the school be in a large city, where it can reach the large number of patients of the poorer classes needed for the observation and the practical medical work of those who are receiving training as medical missionary physicians, medical evangelists, and missionary nurses.

This school has already graduated three classes of medical missionary physicians, practically all of whom are working as physicians in medical missionary institutions in this country, or are in foreign mission fields.

As is well known to those who are interested in educational affairs, medical schools are very costly to conduct. In the well equipped medical schools of the country, the education of a medical student costs from three to five times the amount the student pays to the school in the form of tuition. This, of course, means that financial support must be provided in large amounts from other sources.

The building of the hospital and dispensary buildings of the College of Medical Evangelists in Los Angeles necessarily means a large expenditure; and there can be no doubt that for the advancement of this enterprise, there are people with means who will be glad of an opportunity to add to the fund for this purpose by providing money for some particular portion of the hospital, such as a ward for the care of children, or one for the care of women, or one for men, or one for patients with nervous diseases, or some other particular class of sufferers.

The architectural plans are of such a nature as to provide for the building of small units or buildings in a more or less separate manner for special classes of patients. The name of the hospital is The Ellen G. White Memorial Hospital; and various rooms and departments are to be provided for by special funds, and will be dedicated for special purposes. NEWTON EVANS, M. D.