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January 30, 2006
Flexner on Tulane
From 1908 to 1910 Abraham Flexner, an informed layperson acting under the auspices of the Carnegie Foundation, reviewed virtually every medical school in the United States. Enticed by the (false) thought that the review would bring needed funds from the wealthy Carnegie Foundation, the schools gave Flexner access that was and remains unequaled. In reality, of 150 schools reviewed, fewer than 80 survived.2 This is what he had to say about Tulane in his legendary Bulletin Number Four.
LOUISIANA
Population, 1,618,358. Number of physicians, 1798. Ratio, 1 : 900.
Number of medical schools, 2.
NEW ORLEANS: Population, 992,169.
(1)1 MEDICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA. Organized in 1834, the school affiliated with the University of Louisiana in 1845, and with Tulane in 1884, at which date the University of Louisiana became Tulane University. In 1902 it assumed its present status as an organic part of the university.
Entrance requirement: A four-year high school education or its equivalent, administered by the academic authorities. The actual standard is somewhat below the nominal standard, though gradually rising towards it.
Attendance: 489.
Teaching Staff: 75, of whom 17 are professors. The laboratory branches are in charge of five men, who give their entire time to teaching and investigation.
Resources available for maintenance: Endowment funds, aggregating about $900,000, yield an income of $26,000 annually; fees amount to $67,500. The budget of the department amounts to $101,781.
Laboratory facilities: New and excellent laboratories are provided for the work of the first and second years. The professors in charge represent modern ideals, and are enthusiastically engaged in reconstructing the entire school on progressive lines. The anatomical museum is one of the best in the country. The library is small.
Clinical facilities: The school enjoys unusual privileges and opportunities in the Charity Hospital, an institution of 1050 beds. Recently an additional ward for surgery and gynecology has been added, full control of the services being vested in the Tulane faculty by the terms of the gift. The abundant material is freely used by the medical faculty, though certain defects of organization, equipment, and relationship must be corrected in order to render the situation ideal. The main point, however, is secure, for the position of the medical school in the hospital is ensured through legislative enactment. The professorship in medicine has recently been filled by importation without any friction whatsoever.
The dispensary service is adequate.
Postgraduate instruction in specialties is offered by the New Orleans Polyclinic, affiliated with the Tulane University.
1At the time there was a second medical school in New Orleans, the Flint Medical School, which had an attendance of 24 and access to a 20 bed hospital, which averaged 17 patients a month.
2Paul Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine. Basic Books; 1982.
Posted by Niels Olson at January 30, 2006 6:47 PM
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