Provision was made for a medical department in the University of Michigan in the organic act that created the University. On March 13, 1837, the organization and government of a University of Michigan was decreed, and a Medical Department was included with the Department of Literature, Science and the Arts and the Department of Law, as one of the original divisions of the University to be. Although provided for at this early date, no steps were taken for its actual establishment until 1847, when a committee of the Board of Regents, of which Dr. Zima Pitcher was chairman, urged the immediate organization of the medical school. This committee reported at some length upon methods and aims, calling especial attention to adequate preparation before the study of medicine was undertaken.
The department was finally opened in October 1850. The qualifications required for admission were "a good English education, a knowledge of natural philosophy, the elementary mathematical sciences, and such an acquaintance with the Latin and Greek languages as will enable the student to appreciate the technical language of medicine and reading and writing prescriptions." The single course of lectures extended from the first Wednesday in October to the third Wednesday in April, with four lectures daily except on Saturdays, which were occupied by the alternate hearing and criticism of theses. To be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Medicine a student was required to show evidence that he had pursued the study of medicine and surgery for three years, including the time spent with the preceptor, and that he had at-tended two full courses of lectures, submitted a thesis, and passed an examination held at the end of the term. An allowance of one year from the term was made in favor of those who were already graduates of a college.
In the original act of 1837 it was provided that the following professor-ships should be established: "one of anatomy; one of surgery; one of physiology and pathology; one of the principles of physic; one of obstetrics and of the diseases of women and children; and one of material medico and therapeutics." Five professors composed the first faculty of the department, which was announced as follows in the calendar of 1850-51: Abram Sager, President, and Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children; Silas H. Douglas, Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy and Medical Jurisprudence; Moses Gunn, Secretary, and Professor of Anatomy and Surgery; Samuel Denton, Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine and of Pathology; I. Adams Allen, Professor of Therapeutics, Materia Medica and Physiology;R. C. Kedzie, Demonstrator of Anatomy. Drs. Sager and Douglas were transferred from the older department. A little later Dr. Zina Pitcher was made Emeritus Professor of Obstetrics. Dr. Pitcher was an influential citizen of Detroit, where he practiced medicine; he served on the Board of Regents from 1837 to 1852, and was a prominent member of theBoard; he was particularly active in the establishment of the department, and it would not be surprising if it were owing to his influence that the Medical School was given precedence over the Law School.
A number of changes may be noticed in the Faculty during the first ten years. Professors went and came; and subjects of instruction were redistributed. A. B. Palmer was announced as Professor of Anatomy for the years 1852-54, with the accompanying notice that he was not on duty; in 1854 he became Professor ofMateria Medica, Therapeutics, andDiseases of Women and Children. The same year the name of another man that was long to stand with Palmer's on the Faculty list, Cordyon L.Ford, appeared as Professor of Anatomy. Edmund Andrews became Professor of Comparative Anatomy and Demonstrator of Human Anatomy, and in 1857 Alfred Dubois became Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Allen resigned to go to Chicago in 1854 and Dr. Denton died in 1860. It may be added that Dr. Palmer obtained a leave of absence in 1858 in order that he might prosecute medical studies in Europe—the first instance in the Department, and the second in-stance in the University, of a Professor going abroad on such an errand. Dr. Frieze had led the way three years before.
The erection of a Medical Building was authorized by the Board of Re-gents before the opening of the school in 1850, and a portion of the old medical building, still upon the Campus, dates from that time. This is the forward wing with the picturesque Grecian portico, which for the first decade proved ample for the lecture rooms and the few laboratories then in use. The square addition at the rear was added in 1864.
From the date of the opening of the Medical School to the present time, the number of students in attendance has shown a steady and normal growth, which presented only one period of marked decrease. In 1850-51, there were enrolled ninety students of whom six received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the close of the session. During the succeeding years the enrollment increased rapidly, reaching 525 in 1866-67, the maximum number in attendance at any period during the history of the Medical School, except in 1900-01 when it reached 563 students. This early rise in numbers is accounted for, by the fact that many young men, who had been engaged in the hospitals during the Civil war, entered upon the study of medicine soon after its close. During the following ten years the registration decreased greatly, however the year 1876-77 showing only 285in attendance. Since them the number has again steadily increased.
Women were first admitted to the Medical Department in 1870, eighteen in number, with one graduate in 1871. For a number of years they received instruction apart from the men; and every professor after giving his lecture to the regular class repeated it to the women in the smaller lecture room. The maximum attendance for women for any one-year before 1877was 47, in 1875.
The course of study, which had before 1877 demanded merely attendance at two full courses of lectures from October to April, was extended at that time to two years of nine months each; and in 1880 three years of study of nine months became necessary before a candidate presented himself for examination. In 1890 the compulsory course was extended to four years of nine months each. The three years course of nine months had allowed the establishment of a graded curriculum; the addition of the fourth year permitted further gradation, and gave opportunity for extended laboratory teaching.
The founders of the department recognized the importance of laboratory instruction, and since its beginning, this method of teaching has formed an important feature of the curriculum. The anatomical laboratory was the first to be established, occupying rooms, which have long since been used for other purposes. The erection of the present chemical laboratory in 1856 gave medical students opportunity for laboratory training in chemistry while the appropriation of $3, -500, granted by the legislature of1877, furnished the equipment for the histological and physiological laboratory where instruction for a number of years was given in microscopic anatomy. In 1878 an extended laboratory course in physiological chemistry was added to the curriculum, and a laboratory of electro therapeutics, the first of its kind in America, was established in the same year. In 1879 practical instruction in pathology was inaugurated. The laboratory of hygiene was built and equipped at the request of the Michigan State Board of Health in 1888, with the following objects, as set forth in a memorial presented to the Board of Regents: (1) Original research in the causation of diseases; (2) the examination of food and water, suspected of having caused disease; (3) the instruction of students. Since 1888 an extended course in bacteriology has formed an important part in the required work of every student in medicine. A laboratory of clinical medicine was established in 1891, and formed at that time the only officially recognized laboratory of its kind in America. In1892 two more laboratories were established devoted to surgery and pharmacology.
While the history of the Department of Medicine has been one of successful growth from the first, it met on two occasions with grave problems, which threatened seriously the final effectiveness, if not the very existence of the school. These may be briefly mentioned. The agitation over the removal of the department to Detroit which was inaugurated less than ten years after the opening of the school has furnished one of the most serious questions which ever came before the school, The main argument advanced by Dr. Moses Gunn, at that time a member of the Faculty who had already removed to Detroit where he became editor of the Medical Journal, was that Detroit offered better advantages for clinical instruction. The Board of Regents appointed a committee to investigate the subject and found that under the circumstances it would be highly inexpedient to undertake such a removal. This practically ended the discussion of the question until 1888 when it was revived again with no better success.
The controversy over the establishment of a Homoeopathic Department, which began in 1867, also stirred the Medical Department to its depths and resulted in the resignation of Dr. Abram Sager, the first Dean, and in an effort of the State Medical Society and the American Medical Association to exclude graduates of the department from membership. The question was finally settled, however, although the marked falling off in the number of students to 285 in 1876-77shows how far reaching were its effects.
The first hospital in connection with the University was established in Detroit in 1857 as a school for clinical instruction under the direction of Dr.Zina Pitcher and Dr. A. B. Palmer. This course, however, was abandoned in 1859 and not until 1869 was a hospital established. This was created from what had been a dwelling house upon the college grounds and forms the present quarters of the Department of Dentistry. In 1891 the new University Hospital, situated a short distance from the Campus, was completed, although it has been enlarged from time to time, the latest addition being the Palmer and the Psychopathic Wards. The former, designed originally for the treatment of diseases of children and left to the University as a memorial to Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer by his widow, was completed in1903 although not formally dedicated until Feb. 11, 1907. The Psychopathic Ward, established largely through the efforts of the late Dr. Wm. J. Herdman, has also been recently completed, and is the first hospital of its kind in this country. The new Medical Building of the University, erected at the side of the old building, was completed and ready for occupancy in1902. In this new building, which measures 175 by 145 feet and has three stories and a high basement, are housed the departments of anatomy, histology and embryology, pathology, bacteriology, hygiene and physiological chemistry, the administrative offices, two amphitheaters and two lecture rooms. The departments of physiology and pharmacology, now in the old medical building, will very likely be accommodated in a portion of the present chemistry building, after the completion of the new building.
The Alumnus
Apr 1908, Page 291-294
