Our Medical College by Geo. A. Irwin

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Aug 1, 1912

Our Medical College

By Geo. A. Irwin

THAT we now have a medical college of our own, owned and controlled by the denomination, has come to be quite a well-known fact; but the need of such an institution may not be so well understood. Nearly half a century ago instruction was given to Sister E. G. White which opened to her mind the subject of health reform. There was given to the servant of the Lord a knowledge of hygienic principles designed for the instruction and upbuilding of our people and work. These principles are so harmonious, so consistent, and so genuine that the discussions, the researches, the discoveries, and the experiences of half a century have only confirmed them.

While the medical work has been a great factor in extending the truth to earth's remotest bounds, it has been recognized that this department could be built up only by giving earnest attention to the training of workers to properly represent it. In this training, it was seen, there could be no compromise of principle or conformity to worldly practises. An important problem has been that of the education of physicians to occupy positions of responsibility in our sanitariums, and to take a leading part in the missionary undertakings of the denomination. The danger in the world's system of medical education was recognized a score of years ago, and warnings were given by the same one through whom the light came in the beginning. At the time, most of our young physicians were receiving their medical education at one of the leading medical schools of the country. This warning was given:—

"A course of study at — may be thought essential for some; but evil influences are there ever at work upon susceptible minds, so that the farther they advance in their studies, the less they deem it necessary to seek a knowledge of the will and ways of God. None should be allowed to pursue a course of

study that may in any way weaken their faith in the truth and in the Lord's power, or diminish their respect for a life of holiness. . . . It is not best to advise men and women to take a course of study at —. Many who have been there have not been benefited in the past, and will not be in the future. . . . What need is there for students to bind off their education by attending at — to receive the finishing touch? It has proved to be the finishing touch to very many as far as spirituality and belief in the truth are concerned. It is an unnecessary discipline, opening the mind to the sowing of tares among the wheat; and it is not pleasing to our great Teacher thus to glorify teachers who have not ears to hear nor minds to comprehend a plain 'Thus saith the Lord.' . . . No one who is seeking an education for the work and service of God will be made more complete in Jesus Christ by receiving the supposed finishing touch at —, either in literary or medical lines. Many have been unfitted to do missionary work by attending such schools."

Because of the warnings given through Sister White and because of the recognized need of the time, the denomination proceeded to establish a medical school of its own, operated solely in the interests of the denomination, and in harmony with the light given relative to healthful living and the rational treatment of disease.

The establishment of such a school was hailed with delight by many of our young people who desired to obtain a medical education under the tutorship of men who had faith in God and in the Testimonies of his Spirit. For a time this school was prospered in its work. Many young people who received their medical education and training in it are still doing acceptable work for the Master. In time, however, wrong principles began to make their appearance in the school. In our efforts to avoid the evils that existed in worldly schools, we ran into other evils, and the warning voice of the spirit of prophecy was again heard, and the reproofs came upon the school and its management. The warning and reproof not being heeded, the servant of the Lord felt justified in warning the young people of the denomination against attending the school, since principles were being taught that would as surely lead away from the truth as would the teaching of worldly schools. Thus again we were without a medical school of our own, and once more our young people who desired to obtain a medical education were compelled to go to worldly schools, and run the risk of losing their missionary spirit and their faith in the third angel's message and its principles of purity.

If it was dangerous twenty years ago to send our young people to worldly medical schools, it is doubly so now, for unbelief has made yet greater inroads upon popular education. The Word of God is openly repudiated by many teachers, and lax principles are tolerated. The following extract from a letter bearing date of Feb. 5, 1912, written by a well-known Seventh-day Adventist of mature age, who is taking a medical course in one of the universities of the world, is to the point:—

"Our teachers assign to us a large amount of work, and we are forced to do it in order to pass. The teachers are goaded by the State board examination, and so teachers and students go along like a herd of oxen being lashed by cruel keepers; and at the same time they are goading, and pushing, and cursing, and swearing at one another."

"I feel thoroughly convinced that no Seventh-day Adventist should pass through one of the ordinary medical schools, unless he is well developed in character, has a fixed purpose in life, and knows just what he is doing; for so much of this wrong spirit and these wrong principles are imbibed, that it will be difficult to be of much service in carrying the third angel's message when the course is finished."

The following remark, made by a prominent Seventh-day Adventist who was about to finish a medical course in a worldly college, is another strong argument in favor of a medical school of our own, if we would save our young people from apostasy and preserve in their purity the divinely given principles of health reform: "I am to be graduated in June, but all I know is drug medication."

Such testimonials could be multiplied indefinitely if necessary, or if space would admit; but these are sufficient to show that the teaching in such schools not only endangers the faith of our youth, but their usefulness in the cause of God is impaired if not entirely destroyed, because of their inability to carry forward our denominational work in harmony with the light God has given us.

Consecrated medical evangelists who believe every tenet of the Seventh-day Adventist faith, are the need of the hour in our work in foreign lands. Elder I. H. Evans, one of the vice-presidents of the General Conference and in charge of the Asiatic Division, says: "Go where you may in China, outside of the great cities, and you can scarcely find a capable physician with whom you may consult, and to whom you may look with confidence for intelligent instruction concerning your difficulties. Countless thousands, yea, millions, are dying annually in the Far East because of the gross ignorance which prevails. If every worker who comes to this part of the world could have what might be obtained by a course in our medical college at Loma Linda, it would be the greatest blessing that could possibly come to our work in the Orient. I should be glad if it were possible for us to draw largely our supply of workers for some of these distant fields, from those who have finished a course of training in our school at Loma Linda."

What Elder Evans has said about China, is true of every heathen or semi-civilized country; and every one who has had any experience in such countries knows that a medical knowledge is a great help in evangelistic work, and in some instances, a positive necessity.

From every viewpoint, the need of a medical missionary training-school in this denomination is the great need of the hour. With this question settled, the question that naturally follows is, Can we supply the need?

A successful medical school from our standpoint is made up of three things: (1) Consecrated young men and women of mature age and sufficient education to begin and carry forward such a course; (2) godly and well-qualified physicians of sufficient age and experience to fit them for instructors, and withal a good degree of the missionary spirit; (3) proper buildings and appliances with which properly to operate such a school. Of the first of these, we have an abundance. Of the second, we have a sufficient number of men and women who have studied all that the worldly schools are able to offer, and who in competitive examinations come out at the head of their classes, and who feel a burden for this kind of work. In the instruction that has come from Sister White relative to the establishment of a medical school at Loma Linda, the following significant statement is made:—

"The representation of the great Teacher is to be considered an all-sufficient revelation. Those in our ranks who qualify as physicians are to receive only such education as is in harmony with these divine truths. Some have advised that students should, after taking some work at Loma Linda, complete their medical education in worldly colleges. But this is not in harmony with the Lord's plan. God is our wisdom, our sanctification, and our righteousness. Facilities should be provided at Loma Linda, that the necessary instruction in medical lines may be given by instructors who fear the Lord, and who are in harmony with his plans for the treatment of the sick."

Of the ability of this denomination to produce the third requisite, there can be no question. "The Lord has placed in the hands of his people an abundance of means to properly carry forward all the missionary operations that are necessary for the finishing of his work in this generation." In what better way could means be used at this time than in the equipping of an institution to educate and train medical evangelists to enter the needy fields in the regions beyond? You may not be able to go because of age or some other disqualifying cause, but by giving of your means to equip an institution which "if conducted according to the will of God, will become the most important in its work of all our institutions throughout the world," you may be able to accomplish a hundredfold more than you could had you gone in person. The opportunities to use our means in advancing God's cause in the earth will soon be past. A gift, an annuity, or an endowment toward this work now, will do more than double the amount later, and will bring a greater reward to the giver in the increased number of souls saved. Any who would like to bear a part in equipping our medical college should address the writer at Loma Linda, Cal. GEO. A. IRWIN.