436 STUDENTS’ GUIDE 1955-56

School of Dental Surgery. During the year, 65 medicalstudents have qualified, 5 having gained honours in thefinal M.B. examinations in April and October. First-classhonours and a university postgraduate scholarship wereawarded to a student on her results in the B.SC. specialexamination in physiology. There have been successes,too, on the athletic side and 3 students have gainedcolours in university teams. The school has received anumber of very generous legacies and personal giftsduring the year. As the result of a bequest, the Barrettresearch scholarship has been founded and the first awardwill be tenable in the department of physics. Gifts of21000 from the late Dr. Mabel Ramsay and of 2100 fromMrs. Macdonald will be added to a fund used to helpolder students who may not qualify for State grants.A legacy of 21000 from Dr. Charlotte Brown has providedan endowment for an annual prize for a piece of clinicalresearch carried out by an old student of the school, andMrs. Cunning, another old student, has offered prizes tothe value of 2100 to be awarded for an essay on a dieteticsubject.At ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL Medical School the past

year has seen no major changes. Accommodation forstaff laboratories and an increase in library space remainthe outstanding needs. Planning for reconstructioncontinues and the first stage will be completed during thecoming year when the teaching laboratory, lecture-theatre, and balance-room of the department of bio-chemistry will be completely renovated and re-equipped.The number of applicants for entry remains at a highlevel ; 76 students entered the clinical period during theyear and 90 students qualified. Higher qualificationswere obtained by 44 old Thomas’s graduates. The finalF.R.c.s. course maintains its popularity, especially withCommonwealth candidates, and its results are gratifying.In the academic world it is hoped to ease the burden ofthe preclinical terms by putting pharmacology into theearly months of the clinical period. There have been avariety of visiting lecturers, who continue to drawenthusiastic audiences. It is always refreshing to hearoutsiders speak, for every medical school tends to sufferfrom some degree of parochialism. Student activitieshave maintained a high level of performance. In theathletic field the school has won the inter-hospitalshockey, squash racquets, and rowing trophies, while keensupport for the Arts has produced an admirable Christmasshow and summer play, successful art and photographicexhibitions, and two excellent choral concerts. TheHospitals Symphony Orchestra continues to provideexcellent opportunities for instrumentalists. For post-graduates there are still insufficient vacancies both forconsultant appointments and for positions in generalpractice. The balance for the former is slowly beingcorrected, but there is little improvement towards easeof entry to general practice. The limitation of a ssistant-ships would, it is believed, undoubtedly help ; it isdifficult to believe that, in general terms, they are con-ducive to the best practice of medicine. There is a feelingthat if some of the skill of highly qualified generalpractitioners could be applied behind the iron curtainwhich now divides the world of hospitals from that ofgeneral practice both would benefit considerably, and theease of entry and the attractions of general practice forthe best type of doctor would be much enhanced.

In the past year the position of the WEST LONDONHOSPITAL Medical School has been under discussionbetween the school, the University, and the PostgraduateFederation. The hospital, which is controlled by theboard of governors of Hammersmith, West London, andSt. Mark’s Hospital, was destined at the " appointedday " to share the responsibility of postgraduate educa-tion with Hammersmith Hospital. The school, however,has remained independent, and its postgraduate activitieshave largely been confined to students referred to it bythe Postgraduate Federation and also by certain Govern-ment departments. There has also been some under-graduate teaching and at present there are a few under-graduates doing the whole of their clinical course at theschool ; but no students can be accepted for preclinicalwork. The school has taken these students largely as aresult of pressure from the Colonial Office and otherorganisations responsible for training students in this

country. It is hoped that this work may be approvedby the University, especially if it can be arranged thatstudents and registrars from the Postgraduate MedicalSchool of London can spend some of their time at thehospital to enlarge their clinical experience and to gainexperience in undergraduate teaching. Further negotia-tions between the various interested parties will takeplace during the next academic year, when it is hopedthat some final solution will be reached.

At WESTMINSTER MEDICAL SCHOOL the number ofclinical students is 198, of whom 10 are women; 68students are doing their preclinical studies at King’sCollege, with a view to entering Westminster for theclinical period. Some 560 applications were received lastyear for an annual entry of 65. The Westminster teachinggroup comprises : Westminster Hospital of 430 beds inwhich clinical practice in general medicine, surgery, andobstetrics is undertaken (the orthopaedic, ophthalmic,and ear, nose, and throat departments are also in themain hospital) ; the Gordon ’Hospital of 100 surgicalbeds ; the Westminster Children’s Hospital of 120 bedswhich provide full facilities for instruction in paediatrics :and All Saints’ Hospital of 50 beds for the practice ofgynaecology and urology. A close affiliation with St.Stephen’s Hospital provides very valuable additionalclinical practice in medicine. Practical midwifery is alsocarried out at St. Stephen’s Hospital, the Nelson Hospital,and St. Teresa’s Hospital. Instruction in fevers is givenat the Western Hospital, Fulham. A scheme has beeninstituted on a voluntary basis by which students mayreside for a fortnight with general practitioners in order tosee the work of their practice. Special instruction intuberculosis is provided by a fortnight’s residence at theKing Edward VII Sanatorium, Midhurst. Instructionin mental diseases is given at the Netherne Hospital,S.W.17. 40 vacancies a year in the Westminster Hospitalteaching group have been recommended for pre-registration posts, and competition for these is keen.There is a new sports ground of 28 acres and a pavilionat Cobham ; the ground is near the station and is con-veniently reached from the hospital in forty-five minutes.

At the SCHOOL OF DENTAL SURGERY of the ROYAL DENTALHOSPITAL of London, students who have completed the firstmedical examination devote one year to the study of generaland special anatomy and physiology. In the next three yearsof the course, after preliminary instruction, both theoreticaland practical, in dental mechanics, dental metallurgy, andthe properties of dental materials, and instruction in the

techniques required for dental conservation work, they attendlectures and clinics on general medicine and surgery at

Charing Cross Hospital Medical School and lectures and

practice in dental surgery at the dental school. Degreestudents attend for a further period of four or six monthsbefore completing their final examination.

OTHER ENGLISH SCHOOLSIn the UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM the new extension to

the south wing of the medical school was completed intime for it to be occupied by the department of physiologyat the beginning of the academic year. Plans forextension of the north wing, to house more adequatelythe department of anatomy, are now being consideredand it is hoped that before long a start will be made.The extension to the department of pathology, which issituated in the teaching hospital, the Royal VictoriaInfirmary, is now under way and will, it is hoped, becompleted in 1956. This extension will give increasedopportunities for teaching and research. During theirfinal year students are now attached to selected hospitalsin the region for one month’s resident medical clerking.This scheme has proved very popular both with studentsand hospital staffs. During this period of hospitalresidence students are also attached for one week togeneral practitioners in the area to learn at first handsomething of their work. The first Grey Turner lecturewas delivered by Sir Zachary Cope in the Royal VictoriaInfirmary on May 19. He spoke of Some Early MedicalMuseums. Before the lecture a plaque to the memory ofProfessor Grey Turner was unveiled in the infirmary.During the Easter vacation 10 members of the Universityof Durham Medical Society visited Denmark, by invita-tion of the International Medical Cooperation Committee

437MEDICAL SCHOOLS

in Copenhagen. The visit, which lasted ten days, was agreat success. In addition to ward rounds and visits toclinics in the teaching hospitals of the University ofCopenhagen, the party was entertained most royally.The Medical Society has again completed a full pro-gramme. As in recent years a party of students from theschool will visit Oslo Medical School and hospitals inBergen during the summer vacation as part of the

Norwegian Student Exchange Scheme, and a party ofNorwegian students from Oslo will visit Durham.

In the UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM* the past sessionhas been one of consolidation rather than of new projects.In July last the students organised an internationalclinical conference which was a great success. TheUniversity appeal to industry resulted in over :S470,000being subscribed of the half million aimed at. With agrant from this fund some progress has been made inthe development of the division of pathological studies.The research activities of the dental school continue toattract wide and deserved attention. Mr. Donald McInneshas joined the staff as a research fellow and is investigatingthe structure of the fossil teeth he brought from EastAfrica. Plans for the building of a new dental hospitalhave been submitted to the Ministry of Health and itis hoped that within a few years this long-awaitedbuilding will be completed. In addition it is hoped tocomplete the medical school by the building of the libraryand large lecture-theatre. At the end of the presentsession the school will be losing the services of its directorof graduate studies, Prof. W. H. Wynn. His record inthe school is unique for he has been connected with itin one way or another for over 60 years. Prof. P. C. P.Cloake retires from the chair of neurology and Prof.T. L. Hardy from the chair of gastro-enterology. Per-haps one of the most interesting developments duringthe year has been in the teaching of psychiatry. Twoclinical psychiatrists have been appointed lecturers tothe faculty in this subject and provision has been madefor the admission of suitable patients to the wards ofthe teaching hospital. In addition, the department ofexperimental psychiatry, under Prof. J. Elkes, has takena place in the building for clinical research on the hospitalsite. Dr. W. Mayer Gross has joined this departmentas senior fellow of the University and teaching will laterbecome possible in the new " day " hospital establishedby the regional board close to the University. Twoother developments have been the establishment of theneurosurgical centre at Smethwick and a department ofmetabolic research at Little Bromwich Hospital whichwas opened by Prof. L. J. Witts, of Oxford.

At the UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL * 75 men and 24women undergraduates were admitted in October, 1954,and of these 47 entered the first year and 52 the secondyear. In spite of the publicity about possible over-crowding in the profession, there is no falling off in thenumber of applications for admission (665 last year andover 700 during the current year). A revised final-yearcurriculum which now includes three months’ orthopaedicdressing and one month each of senior medical clerking,senior surgical dressing, and casualty dressing, in additionto training in the "

specialties," came into force thisyear ; and a voluntary scheme whereby students becomeattached to local practitioners in order to obtain first-hand knowledge of general practice has been started.The first part of the new medical school building is nearingcompletion and the departments of pathology, bacterio-logy, and pharmacology will occupy their new premisesbefore next session opens. A lectureship has been estab-lished commemorating the work of the first professor oforthopaedic surgery in the University of Liverpool,T. P. McMurray, former colleague of the late Sir RobertJones. Sir Henry Cohen is to deliver the Sherringtonlectures on Nov. 1, 2, and 3, 1955.

At MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY* 93 new students wereadmitted in October, 1954, including 24 women. There

was no falling off in the number of applicants. Thecurriculum subcommittee of the faculty has submitteda scheme for the revision of the curriculum, and it ishoped to introduce some of the changes during thecoming session. Clinicopathological conferences havebeen held for some time and it is intended to experiment

further with this type of teaching by introducing com-bined classes in which a number of departments will join.During the session the University has reluctantly beencompelled to close Lister House, the resident hostel formedical students. The duties normally undertaken inLister House will now be covered by a clinical apprentice-ship. On the whole the system of preregistrationappointments is working quite smoothly.

At the UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS,* this year has seen theintroduction of the revised clinical curriculum, and inOctober, 1955, the new preclinical curriculum willbegin. It will now be possible for able students to obtaintotal exemption from the 1st M.B. course and examina-tion. The preclinical course will now include organicand physical chemistry. The total length of the courseis five and a quarter years and so, for those who obtainexemption from the 1st M.B. examination, four and aquarter years. The year too has seen considerableactivity in building. At the beginning of last sessionthe teaching laboratories of the department of pharmaco-logy were moved to temporary premises in space vacatedby another department. At the same time a grantfrom the Wellcome Trust made possible a substantialreorganisation, extension, and re-equipment of facilitiesfor pharmacological research. These new researchlaboratories were opened on Jan. 6, 1955, by Sir HenryDale, o.M., F.R.S., chairman of the Wellcome Trust.Meanwhile, an extension is being built using part of thecourtyard of the school to provide common-rooms

for both men and women students. The present common-rooms will be used to provide much needed additionalspace for the library. Additional accommodation forlaboratory animals is being built, which will providebetter quarters for cats and dogs. The increasingimportance of this aspect of the work of the school isshown by the institution of a new post of superintendentof laboratory animals. The Passey prize in Art, to beawarded every third year to the student of the Universitywho submits the best piece of artistic work, was foundedthis year in commemoration of Professor Passey’stenure of the chair of experimental pathology andcancer research from 1926 to 1953.

At the UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD * structural alterationshave permitted the re-housing, in an adequate manner,of the department of pharmacology and therapeutics,and the space thereby freed, adjacent to the departmentof anatomy, will allow much-needed expansion of thatdepartment. Building is proceeding satisfactorily withthe new teaching block at the Royal Infirmary. Thechair of biochemistry, lately vacated by Prof. H. A.Krebs, F.R.S., has now been filled by Dr. Q. H. Gibson,formerly reader in physiology. The title of reader hasbeen conferred on Dr. G. Forbes, the head of the depart-ment of forensic medicine. The University was pleasedto welcome, as a visiting lecturer in the department ofmedicine for a period, Dr. F. M. Davenport, associateprofessor of the department of epidemiology in theUniversity of Michigan. Reference was made last yearto the fellowship established by the Nuffield Foundationto enable a senior research-worker to be attached to theSheffield Centre for the Investigation and Treatment ofRheumatic Diseases. It has now been decided to inviteDr. H. F. West, already director of the centre, to takeup this fellowship on a part-time basis, reducingcorrespondingly his routine hospital commitments.

At the UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL during the past yearthe new professorial unit in obstetrics and gynaecologyhas taken over the permanent accommodation builtfor it at Southmead Hospital. A research laboratoryfor the department of anaesthetics has been opened at theBristol Royal Infirmary with the cooperation of theboard of governors. The scheme for the attach-ment of final-year students to general practitionersfor one or two periods of a week each has been continued,* The entrance requirements for the Universities of Manchester,

Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, and Birmingham are laid down inthe pamphlet, University Entrance Requirements 1951-1955,copies of which may be obtained from the Secretary to theJoint Matriculation Board, 315, Oxford Road, Manchester, 13.Additional faculty requirements may, however, be imposed;details can be obtained from the dean of the faculty of medicinein each university.

438 STUDENTS’ GUIDE 1955-56

following a satisfactory report on its first year’s running.The arrangements for preregistration appointmentshave again worked smoothly, except for one or two casesof difficulty in finding medical appointments for graduateswho had completed an appointment in surgery. Theveterinary school produced its first set of graduatesin September, and all members of the first final yearcompleted graduation by December. B.v.sc. regulationshave been amended so that, starting with the session1955-56, the final examination will be taken in Juneinstead of in September. Applications for medicine andveterinary science have remained numerous and thosefor dentistry have shown a welcome increase in numbersand improvement in quality.

WALES

The WELSH NATIONAL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE hasprovided an additional floor in the new Institute ofPathology for the public-health laboratory of the MedicalResearch Council, and has come to an arrangement, withthe approval of the University and the Medical ResearchCouncil, whereby the director of the laboratory holds thechair of bacteriology in the school. Collaboration ismaintained with the pneumoconiosis research unit of theMedical Research Council at Llandough Hospital, theneuropsychiatric research unit at Whitchurch MentalHospital, and the asthma research unit at St. David’sHospital; members of the staff of each unit hold appoint-ments, honorary or otherwise, in the school. At the jointinvitation of the regional hospital board and the board ofgovernors of the United Cardiff Hospitals, the school hasrecommended the names of persons to constitute a clinicalresearch committee to consider research projects requiringthe assistance of the boards from State-provided moneys.The committee has been approved and has already maderecommendations about research schemes. The largescheme for an entirely new medical school and teachinghospital is still in the hands of the Welsh Board of Healthand the University Grants Committee. The Minister hasannounced in Parliament that it has a measure ofpriority and, accordingly, it is hoped that an architecturalcompetition will be launched at no very distant date.

SCOTLAND

At the UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN the course for thedegrees of M.B., OR.B. extends over six academic years.Courses in premedical and preclinical subjects are givenin departments located in Marischal College and inOld Aberdeen, providing instruction to science as wellas to medical students. Laboratory and lecture coursesin the three clinical years are given in the Universitybuildings on the Foresterhill site where the main hos-pitals are, and clinical instruction is given in all thehospitals in Aberdeen. Few changes have taken placeduring the past year, though a number of importantnew projects are in course of completion or being planned.Considerable progress has been made in building a newwing to the Royal Infirmary to provide accommodation,among other things, for an enlarged blood and fluidtransfusion unit at present housed in the departmentof bacteriology. Plans have been prepared for a newworkshop, a radioactive-isotope unit, and a specialresearch department in clinical midwifery, the lastmentioned to be staffed by the Medical Research Counciland run under the honorary direction of the professorof midwifery.’ The number of students applying foradmission each year tends to fall but is still above thenumber of places available. During the year EmeritusProfessor John Cruickshank retired from his chair andwas succeeded by Prof. A. Macdonald, one of hisdistinguished pupils, who has returned to Aberdeenvia the University of Liverpool where he was reader.The four Scottish universities have been in consultationabout the possibility ’of permitting certain candidatesfor admission to the medical faculty, under regulationsto be made by each university, to sit the professionalexamination in physics, chemistry, and biology withoutattending university classes in these subjects. To enablethis to be done, a new ordinance has had to be drafted

1. See Lancet, 1955, i, 1335.

and has already been approved by the SenatusAcademicus. The policy of attaching students for a periodof a month to general practitioners in the region continuesto be successful. Fears that the patients might objectto such an arrangement, have not been justified. Thestudents have proved tactful in their relations withdoctors and their families, and there is no doubt that thisexperiment has come to stay.

At the UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, the past year hasbeen one of continuing activity. The number of applicants I

for admission in October, 1955, to the M.B., CH.B. courseis as high as ever in relation to the number of placesavailable. The demand for places in the Royal (Dick)School of Veterinary Studies for the B.v.M.s. course againexceeds the number available. The number of suitablyqualified applicants for admission to the School of DentalSurgery, however, is somewhat disappointing, but thisreflects a trend which has been noted elsewhere in thecountry at present. Students in medicine, dentistry,and veterinary medicine and surgery all attend the samefirst-year course with professional examinations inphysics and zoology in March and in chemistry andbotany in July ; and all students are governed by thesame regulations relating to class and professional exam-inations. A new procedure for the selection of medicalstudents has been adopted and a majority of applicantsare required to appear for interview by a selection com-mittee before admission to the faculty. Those applyingfor admission as students for the M.B., CH.B. course

beginning in October, 1956, should submit their applica-tions to the dean of the faculty by Dec. 31, 1955. Alimited number of undergraduate bursaries and scholar-ships are available to students in the faculty of medicinefor advanced courses of study-e.g., an honours courseof instruction for the B.sc. degree.

Present regulations governing the M.D. degree requirethe lodgment of two copies of theses and candidates maybe required to present themselves for examination, whichmay be a written, oral, clinical, or practical test in thebranch or department of medicine to which the subjectof the thesis relates. The degree CH.M. requires the sub-mission of a thesis and normally also examination in asurgical subject or subjects. The University does notconduct courses of instruction leading to these higherdegrees, but facilities for clinical or other study and forresearch are available. The Edinburgh Post-GraduateBoard for Medicine (see p. 451), which is an advisorycouncil to the University, provides courses of instructionleading to the higher qualifications granted by the RoyalColleges of Edinburgh. The University conducts post-graduate courses leading to the diplomas in medical radio-diagnosis and in medical radiotherapy, each extendingover two years. There are also courses of instruction inpublic health, of about three months’ duration for thecertificate in public health, and of a further six monthsfor the diploma in public health. For the diploma intropical medicine and hygiene the course of instruction Bis in two parts, each of about three months’ duration, andthe diploma in psychiatry requires, under present regula-tions, attendance at two courses, each of three weeks’duration in the autumn term, in addition to certainspecified hospital experience. There are also courses ofinstruction leading to the University certificate for nursetutors and to the certificate in medical illustration.Graduate scholarships and fellowships are also offered,being open to graduates in the faculty of medicine of anyuniversity, to graduates in the faculties of arts or scienceof any university who hold an honours degree, and tolicentiates in medicine. The holders’ of such awards arerequired to undertake research work in a departmentwithin the faculty of medicine.

At GLASGOW UNIVERSITY the numbers of applicationsfor admission to the medical and to the veterinarySchool show little change from last year and are stillin excess of the numbers of available places. Applicationsfor entry to the dental school, which have been dis-appointingly few during the past year or two, show aslight but welcome increase this year. In the medicalschool, Prof. T. Symington has succeeded Prof. G. L.