HOSPITAL
DUKE
\'0L. 9, NO. 1 FEBRUARY, ]!)(>2 DURHAM, X. C.
You still just can’t boat the tiiiio-honorcd method oF loariiiu}; iiu'diciiue—
the bedside teaeliiiifi session. Here Dr. Robert AViialeii, now Associate in
^Medicine, and Dr. Herrero, I'onnerly a member of the liouse stall’, diseuss a
ease willi senior students Frank, (Jay and Kiuf>:sley.
Wanted:
300 M.D.S
Every year the Duke Medical Cen
ter trains a large number of technical
and professional personnel inclnding
nurses, intei-ns, r(^sideuts, dietitians,
x-ray teciinicians, physical thera])ists,
])harmacists and medical students.
Surprisingly it is the largest student
group that the rest of the hospital
knows least about—the 300 or so
nu’dical students. Who are they;
what are they here for and where
do they go from here?
While many of Duk(‘’s nunlical
stiulents come from afar, most hail
from the southeast. And while many
will choose an academic career or
will ])ractice ludfway around the
world (siu'h as one of this year’s
seniors, Joel ilattison, who will work
with Dr. Albert Schweitzei- in Afri
ca), most Dide ^Medical School grad
uates will practice medicine in this
part of the country. In the meantime
their four years here, learning how
to become doctors, are i)robably the
busiest and nu)st challenging of their
lives.
Time was when it was almost im
possible for a young man to study
medicine uidess his parents could
support him through college, medical
school and jiossibly several more years
of s]>ecialty training. ]\I(‘dical edu
cation has become even more exjien-
sive, but today more and more sources
for scholarshi])s and loans are avail
able tliau ever before. Today a bright
as])irant who is not afraid of acquir
ing both his M.l). and a sizeable debt
to repay, can almost always find
sources of money to complete his
medical training. This situation is
fine for the serious student, but tends
to seiul the less enthusiastic doctor-to-
b(' scurrying elsewhere!
Once he enters Duke ^Tedical
School, the enthusiastic and eager
student finds himself confronted with
two years of mori' concent rated learn
ing than college ever recpiired. And
for most of these two years the stu
dents’ only human contact is with
theii' cadaver in anatomy—whom they
come to know very well, indeed! Lec
tures, laboratory woi’k and the uuiny,
many hours of study that go into the
mastering of the basic sciences of
aimtomy, })athology, histology, physi
ology, ])harnuK‘ology, biochemistry
and bacteriology keep the first and
second year student ])retty much out
of the routine of hosintal life. Vaca
tions and occasional dances and cabin
|)arties hel]) break tlu> diet of hard
work during tlu'se years. And in
s])ite of the limited amount of leisure
time more and more students find
time to woo and win a wife and start
families before graduation. Whereas
not so nuuiy years ago a married med
ical student was a rarity, today it is
the single student who is the rarity.
Tlu> student wives—most of whom
work to help with the tight fanuly
finaiH'cs—take an activ(> part in uu'di-
cal school activities along with their
jobs or their babies. The Duke .Medi
cal Dames is an organization of stu
dent wives that meets monthly for so
cializing, leclurc's, study groui)s and
connnunity work. The medical stu-
(h'uts tiu'mselves are active in organi
zations including their student gov
ernment association, a local grouj) of
the Student American Jledical Asso
ciation and medical social and hon-
oi'ary societies.
Just about the time tlu* student be
gins to despair of ever seeing a real,
live i)atient his cours(> in ])hysical di-
(Continued on i>age (i)