University of Virginia Library

XXIX. Professional Departments—Medicine,
Continued

We have already referred incidentally to the stress
laid upon the laboratory after the reorganization of
the medical department. The aim which the new
dean kept in view from the first hour of his induction
into office was to bring the laboratory studies up to
the minimum standard set for those subjects by the
Association of American Colleges, and approved by the
American Medical Association and the Association
of the State Licensing Boards. At the time of his
appointment, the department was crippled in this direction
by the following deficiencies: (I) there was practically
no laboratory work undertaken in the fundamental
science of chemistry,—it was necessary that
the medical student should have open to him courses
in the methods of qualitative analysis, in toxicology,
and in physiological chemistry; (2) there was no instruction
at all in the methods of experimental physiology.
The hours assigned to bacteriology were short
of the minimum by at least fifty per cent., and of the
requirement of a really great school by a much wider gap
still.

By the beginning of the session of 1907–08, these

particular defects had been at least partially cured.
The Massie house, at the north end of West Range,
had, by that date, been remodeled inside,—one section
had been converted into a laboratory for physiological
chemistry; and another section into a laboratory for experimental
physiology. There was reserved in the
basement a room for experimental practice of medicine
on animals. The former Ross dwelling-house was
now used for storerooms, offices, and small laboratories,
while the Ross boarding-house was divided into two
laboratories,—the one occupying the upper floor was
assigned to the professor of general chemistry for undergraduates;
the one occupying the lower was used
not only for the like purpose but also as a lecture room.
Before the close of the session of 1908–09, the number
of laboratories had been increased threefold at least.
The work now done therein was for the illumination of
the fundamental subjects of organic chemistry, gross
anatomy, histology and embryology, bacteriology, pathology,
physiological chemistry, physiology, pharmacology,
and materia medica.

In the absence of funds with which to erect new laboratory
buildings, old structures were renovated and
equipped with apparatus for teaching, and to a less
extent, for original investigation. The medical student
gained through these laboratories a large part of his
knowledge at first hand and by his own exertion. He,
by the same means, acquired confidence in himself,—
a state of mind imperative for successful practice
afterwards.

President Alderman, in an address delivered, in
1917, before the Medical Association of Virginia and
North Carolina, affirmed that "the University of
Virginia, during the previous six years, had expended approximately

six hundred thousand dollars in multiplying
its scientific laboratories and their equipment ten-fold, increasing
its instructorial staff, and, above all, developing
the advantages of its own hospital to the point where
fifteen hundred cases of disease pass through it yearly,
and where, in surgery, its service for the students enrolled
equals the best in America." Let us now inquire
into the history of this beneficent institution since 1904–
05.

The hospital was designed and conducted as a teaching
hospital, and was so constructed as to allow of indefinite
expansion. In 1906, the edifice consisted of an
administration building and one completed wing, with
a second wing in the process of erection. There was
now accommodation for fifty patients; and fifty more
could be taken in when the new wing had been finished.
The clinical work at this time was carried on by the professors
of the practice of medicine, general surgery, abdominal
surgery and gynecology, and obstetrics. The
medical class was first divided into medical and surgical
groups, and then subdivided into sections, which were
distributed through the four wards,—two of which were
reserved for white people and two for colored. Each
clinical patient was assigned to two students, under the
criticism and advice of the physician-in-chief; and they
assisted at the operation, if surgical treatment was called
for. In the central building, there were an amphitheatre,
private operating rooms, and x-ray rooms, while
in the basement of the north wing was situated a fully
equipped clinical laboratory.

During 1914–16, steps were taken to erect an additional
wing to the hospital. The money required for
this purpose was donated by the town of Charlottesville
and the County of Albemarle,—which together

subscribed the sum of twenty-one thousand dollars,—
and Mr. Charles Steele, of New York City. This new
wing was occupied in the summer of 1916; and it gave
the hospital a capacity of two hundred beds. There
were now six wards,—two of which were for the use of
the colored people,—and forty private rooms.

The out-patient department, by this time, had been
made an integral part of the hospital itself. It had formerly
been housed in the old dispensary, but in the fall
of 1916, it was transferred to the first floor of the new
wing of the hospital. The dispensary had been in charge
of an advanced medical student, who, together with other
students of the same grade, responded to calls in the
neighborhood, in addition to prescribing for persons
who came to the building. One or two of the medical
professors met their regular classes at the dispensary;
and under their guidance, diagnostic and pathological
examinations of patients were made by the members.

By 1910–11, the number of cases treated at the hospital
had increased to fifteen hundred annually. Of the
1565 patients admitted between July 1, 1910, and July 1,
1911, six hundred and twenty-two were charged no fee;
six hundred and sixteen paid in part; and the remainder
paid in full. During this interval, over one thousand
surgical operations took place. There were for the fiscal
year ending July 1, 1912, 1781 patients; for the fiscal
year ending July 1, 1914, 2133. Since the first of July,
1908, the number had trebled. At the close of the fiscal
year of 1916–17, the number of patients had grown to
3200. In other words, it had nearly quintupled. Of
the 2313 cases treated in the fiscal year of 1914–15, 1348
were gratuitous. In consequence of these services to individual
health without pecuniary return, the hospital

added very sensibly to the expenses of the University;
indeed, the outlay ran ahead of the income to such a degree
that there was always a deficit on the annual operations
of this section of the medical department. For the
fiscal year ending July 10, 1910, this deficit amounted to
nearly nine thousand dollars, even after the Board of
Visitors had advanced the sum of eight thousand. Beginning
with the session of 1910–11, the General Assembly
made an annual appropriation of ten thousand dollars
for the benefit of the hospital, but this failed to balance
the annual accounts,—during that year, the expenses rose
to $40,183.98, while the income did not exceed $21,927.65.
In 1912–13, the total expenses,—exclusive of
the salaries of the professors,—amounted to $26,909.71;
the receipts to $15,960.67. From $42,579.21
in 1913–14, the expenses swelled to $90,379.08 in 191617;
the income from $42,769.09 to $79,134.28.

A rise in prices of all articles used in the hospital was
now perceptible. The cost of maintaining a patient
was $1.21 per diem in 1914–15 as compared with $1.03
in 1913–14; and the advance grew only more rapid after
war was precipitated in Europe.

At the beginning of the Ninth Period, there were four
full professors whose instruction was restricted to the
courses of the medical department; and in addition to
these, there were two adjunct professors, a demonstrator,
and three assistants. Of the academic faculty, three full
professors and one adjunct were called upon to devote a
portion of their time to lectures on purely medical topics.
Professor Whitehead, in addition to the deanship of the
department, occupied the chair of anatomy. Dr. W. M.
Randolph was the adjunct professor of surgery. When
a separate chair of bacteriology and pathology was established
in 1906–07, Professor C. H. Bunting was

chosen the incumbent. Dr. Theodore Hough who had
previously been associated with the famous Institute of
Technology in Boston, was, during the same session,
appointed to the separate school of physiology, and afterwards
became the dean of the department of medicine
following the death of Professor Whitehead. During
his first year, his time was given up altogether to the
construction and equipment of the new laboratories. Dr.
William D. Macon was elected to fill the chair of obstetrics.
Dr. Stephen H. Watts followed Dr. Buckmaster
as professor of surgery; and, as director of the hospital,
assumed general charge of that section of the department,
while Dr. H. B. Stone became the adjunct professor of
general surgery and gynecology, to be succeeded by Dr.
William H. Goodwin. Dr. James C. Flippin was appointed
to the chair of clinical medicine and therapeutics
after the retirement of Professor Barringer. Simultaneously,
Dr. H. S. Hedges became professor of the diseases
of the eye, ear, nose, and throat. Subsequently,
this professorship was divided and Dr. Robert F. Compton
delivered the lectures on a section of the original
course. Dr. H. T. Marshall succeeded Dr. Bunting in
the chair of pathology and bacteriology, with Dr. C. R.
Meloy as the adjunct professor.

In 1910–11, Dr. H. E. Jordan, the associate professor
of anatomy, was promoted to the full professorship of
histology and embryology, a section of that school. Dr.
John A. E. Eyster was the first exclusive teacher of pharmacology
and materia medica, in which position he was
followed by Dr. Jas. A. Waddell, in 1912. Dr. Joseph
H. Kastle was the successor of Professor Mallet in the
chair of medicine, and, in turn, was succeeded by Dr.
Graham Edgar. Dr. Charles M. Byrnes was, for some
time, the incumbent of the adjunct professorship of anatomy

and neurology, and Dr. John H. Neff was the instructor
in surgery. For a period, the administrative
work of the hospital was in charge of Dr. M. R. Pratt.
A vacancy in the chair of gross anatomy and neurology
was filled by the appointment of Dr. Robert B. Bean.

During the sessions of 1909–10, 1910–11, and 191112,
the number of first-year matriculates in the medical
department increased so rapidly that it was considered
advisable to reduce that enrolment thereafter to thirty-six
new students, as this was the largest number which
could be properly provided for with the then existing
staff of teachers and laboratory facilities. In 1915–16
eighteen qualified applicants had to be denied admission;
and it was expected that, at the beginning of the ensuing
year, as many as thirty-five would have to be turned away,
as there were, at that time, sixty students in the college
department preparing for the medical course of the first
year. The following table indicates the number of
young men who attended the lectures between 1907–08
and 1917–18 inclusive, and also the number who won the
degree of doctor of medicine in the course of the interval
between 1907–08 and 1915–16 exclusive:

     

	1907–08	1908–09	1909–10	1910–11	1911–12	1912–13
Number of students	107	88	89	79	84	91
Number of graduates	22	18	31	20	12	14

     

	1913–14	1914–15	1915–16	1916–17	1917–18
Number of students	104	108	121	108	100
Number of graduates	17	21

The temporary falling off after 190708 was attributable
to the adoption of the new requirements for admission.
Down to 1914 inclusive, 6214 students had matriculated
in the department of medicine since 1825. Of
this number, 2019 had received the diploma of doctor of
medicine. One hundred and sixty-eight had entered the

medical corps of the army and navy and the marine hospital
service.

About 1912–13, the committee on medical education
of the American Medical Association, having thoroughly
inspected all the medical schools then in operation in the
United States, registered the medical department of the
University of Virginia in class A, a primacy which was
granted to but twenty-two in a very long list. The only
Southern institutions admitted to this star roll, besides
the University of Virginia, were the Tulane University,
the University of Texas, and the Johns Hopkins University.

Early in the session of 1913–14, the Board of Visitors
were informed that, should the medical department of the
University of Virginia and the Medical College of Virginia
in Richmond agree to consolidate,—the Medical
College to take over the University medical department,
—a large endowment could be obtained for the united
schools. A committee reported to the Board in January,
1914, the upshot of their investigation, which was unfavorable
to the acquisition of the endowment; and after
the Board had weighed other adverse information bearing
on the question of consolidation, they adjourned without
further action; and ultimately the original proposal
was permanently dismissed from discussion.