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FACILITIES FOR AND METHODS OF INSTRUCTION

The new Medical Building completed in 1929 contains modern well-equipped
laboratories for the accommodation of the medical sciences. This
building is connected by corridors and bridges with the hospital, thus bringing
all departments of the Medical School into close physical association.
The new arrangement necessitated extensive changes in certain portions
of the hospital, involving especially the surgical suite, the X-ray suite and
the out-patient quarters. It required also the erection of an enlarged laundry,
a new power plant, and dining halls for hospital staff and nurses. The
Medical School Building consists of two wings connected by an inside pavilion,
all five floors in height. The south wing houses on four successive floors
the departments of biochemistry, pharmacology and materia medica, physiology,
and histology and embryology. On the top floor are the experimental
laboratories, quarters for experimental animals and a fireproof storage
room for X-ray plates. The north wing gives accommodations on the ground
floor for autopsy rooms, an embalming room, a media room, refrigeration,
incineration and storage. The first floor houses half of the Out-patient Department
and the receiving room. On the second floor are the offices of
administration, the museum and the library. On the third floor are the
department of pathology and bacteriology, and two classrooms. The fourth
floor contains a laboratory for neuro-anatomy. The connecting pavilion, or
west wing, contains on the ground floor four student locker rooms, the
electrical power room, a record storage room, and an amphitheatre. The
latter is two floors in height and extends eastward into the open court between
the north and south wings. On the first floor are a lecture room,
a staff room, a record room, a drug room, and examining and sterilizing
rooms. On the second floor are housed the department of clinical pathology
and a cardiac laboratory. The third floor has three laboratories for gross


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anatomy, a study room, a number of offices, and quarters for surgical pathology.
On the top floor are accommodations for the department of public
health and hygiene.

These laboratories are all presided over by trained teachers, to whom
teaching and investigation are primary considerations. The number of
hours assigned to laboratory subjects is quite large and affords ample time
for thorough study by the best methods. The student is brought into close
contact with teachers who are both willing and able to guide him; he gains
a very large part of his knowledge at first hand and by his own exertions,
and thus acquires the habit of working out things for himself; he becomes
self-reliant, a quality essential to the practice of his difficult profession.
Trained in this manner, he acquires an understanding of the medical sciences
and the ability to apply the facts of these sciences to the subsequent study of
disease. For these reasons the great fundamental sciences receive the utmost
consideration, constituting a large part of the work of the first two
years.

The methods of clinical instruction are based upon the belief that no
clinical teaching is efficient which is not governed by essentially the same
principles as those which govern the best laboratory teaching. This instruction
is accordingly designed to enforce with the individual student a careful,
thorough, face-to-face study of disease and its management. The facilities
afforded by the University Hospital and Out-Patient Department are described
on a subsequent page. In the Out-Patient Department and in the
Hospital the student learns the methods of examining patients, of diagnosing
their diseases, and of instituting rational treatment; and he learns these
things in much the same way as he studied in the laboratory, that is to say,
by doing them himself under the direction and criticism of the instructors.
This practical training is accompanied by a systematic study of the various
subjects by means of lectures, textbooks, and recitations. The student conducts
a complete examination, records his observations in a scientific manner,
make a diagnosis, states his view as to the treatment indicated, and keeps
a complete record of the case, all under the advice and criticism of the
physician or surgeon in charge. He is expected to keep himself informed
of the progress of the case throughout its course. If it is one requiring
surgical treatment, he assists at the operation, and thus is able to follow all
the procedures of the operator at close range. In addition, students make
frequent visits to the wards with the attending physicians and surgeons, during
which visits the nature, treatment, and progress of various cases are
gone over in detail. The patients of the Blue Ridge Sanatorium afford
additional material for clinical instruction. Since the number of students in
each class is relatively small, it is clear that the department offers capable
young men clinical advantages which are distinctly exceptional.

At the meetings of the Medical Society of the University of Virginia reviews
of important articles, clinical cases and results of original research are
presented by the instructors and by invited guests.

Graduate Instruction in the Department of Medicine is administered
under the Department of Graduate Studies of the University. The courses
of the regular medical curriculum are credited as C courses; elective, special


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research and seminar courses are evaluated as D courses. Recent revision
of the medical curriculum, involving chiefly reductions in the number of
session-hours of required work and the establishment of elective and research
courses in each of the major departments, makes possible a greatly enlarged
scope of graduate instruction.

Registrar's Records of Student's Work.—The results of the work of each
student are recorded in the Registrar's office in such manner as to show (1)
the grade received on each course, (2) whether the student has or has not
absolved the course and, if not, what is necessary to obtain a clear record
and admit to dependent subjects, and (3) a valuation in "honor points" of
the results of the work for each session.

1. The grade received on each course. These grades with their percentage
equivalents are as follows:

           
1 + =  95-100 per cent 
1 =  90- 94 per cent 
2 =  85- 89 per cent 
3 =  80- 84 per cent 
4 =  70- 79 per cent 
5 =  below 70 per cent 

The passing grade is 3. A grade of 4 entitles the student to a condition,
as explained below. A grade of 5 means a failure for the course.

No passing grades are reported to the Registrar's office on didactic work
unless the laboratory or clinical part of the course is completed in a satisfactory
manner; nor are any grades reported when the student is deficient
until the deficiency has been made up.

2. Whether the student has or has not absolved the course, and, if not,
what is required to obtain a clear record and admit to dependent subjects.

This is indicated in the following terms:

Passed (P) indicates the satisfactory completion of the course and admits
to all dependent subjects.

Conditioned (C) means that to obtain a clear record on the course the
student must pass a special examination. Failure to take or to pass this
examination is equivalent to a record of "failed." The record "conditioned"
is not given in fourth-year subjects, except in case of illness or other equivalent
cause approved by the faculty.

A student may be conditioned on any examination because of failure
to maintain a reasonable standard of English composition.

Deficient (D) indicates that part of the required laboratory or clinical
work of the course has not been completed. Upon the satisfactory completion
of this work within the time and in the manner prescribed by the
professor in charge, the student receives the record "passed"; otherwise the
record is "failed" on the entire course.

Failed (F) indicates that the course must be repeated; except that when
the laboratory or other practical work has been satisfactorily performed, the


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professor in charge may, at his discretion, excuse the student from repeating
the same; and, by special vote of the faculty, the student may be granted
optional attendance upon the course, in whole or in part. In general, a
student who is repeating a course will be required to attend all the exercises
of the course, and will not be excused from any exercise thereof because
of schedule conflicts with more advanced work.

Absence from a regular examination, when excused because of illness
or equivalent cause gives a record of conditioned; if not excused, a record of
failed.

3. A valuation of the general results of the work on each course and of
the student's work for the entire session. Honor points.

This is expressed in honor points.

Each course is valued in the usual manner in terms of session-hours.
An honor point (or simply a point) may be defined as the honor value of
one-half session-hour of a course on which a grade of 2 has been received;
the honor value becomes 2 for each half session-hour of a course on which 1
has been received and 2½ for each half session-hour on which a grade of 1+
has been received. Thus for each session-hour of a complete course:

  • A grade of 3 gives no honor points.

  • A grade of 2 gives 2 honor points.

  • A grade of 1 gives 4 honor points.

  • A grade of 1+ gives 5 honor points.

  • A grade of 4 subtracts 2 honor points.

  • A grade of 5 subtracts 4 honor points.

No honor points are given on a course on which a condition or failure
has been received at the time of the final examination on the course; except
that, in case of illness or equivalent cause, the results of re-examination or
of repetition of the course—instead of the record on the completion of the
course—may be made the basis of estimating honor points.

Students who receive on the entire curriculum of any one year of medical
study, or its equivalent, a total of 50 honor points have optional attendance
on all the didactic work of the next session.

Special Rules Governing Advancement and Registration.

I. At the close of the University in June, the status of the students
shall be fixed for the next session, classification being made as follows: (a)
Promoted; (b) Required to Withdraw; (c) Provisionally Promoted; and (d)
Required to Repeat.

(a) Promoted. This group shall be composed of all students who have
satisfactorily completed the entire work of the year.

(b) Required to Withdraw. This group shall include such students as
are not deemed competent to continue their training in this school. The
record requiring withdrawal, reckoned in session-hours, is as follows:

For first-year students—(1) Failures in 9 session-hours; (2) failures in 6
hours plus conditions in 6 hours.

For second-year students—(1) Failures in 10 hours; (2) failures in 8
hours plus conditions in 4 hours.


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For third-year students—(1) Failures in 6½ hours; (2) failures in 4½
hours plus conditions in 4 hours.

(c) Provisionally Promoted. This group shall include students who
have incurred only such deficiencies as can with reasonable expectation be
removed by the opening of the next session. The record entitling provisional
promotion, reckoned in session-hours, must not be lower than the following:

For first-year students—(1) Failures in 6 session-hours; (2) failures in
4 hours plus conditions in 4 hours; (3) conditions in 10 hours.

For second-year students—(1) Failures in 7 hours; (2) failures in 6
hours plus conditions in 3 hours; (3) conditions in 11 hours.

For third-year students—(1) Failures in 4½ hours (2) failures in 3
hours plus conditions in 3 hours; (3) conditions in 8 hours.

(d) Required to Repeat. This group shall include all students not
placed in groups a, b, and c. A student who is repeating must attend all
exercises of the year, or courses, and pass the examinations, regardless of
the grades previously made.

II. Students, classified in June as "Required to Withdraw" or "Required
to Repeat," shall not change their status by passing summer courses and
(or) special examinations.

III. A student who has been permitted to repeat a year, or prescribed
courses, shall not be granted the privilege for a second time, i. e., he shall
not spend more than five years in completing the requirements for graduation.

IV. A student may not take any course, either in whole or in part (as
explained under the above definition of failed) more than twice. A second
record of failed on the same course involves withdrawal from the Department
of Medicine.

V. A clear record at the opening of the session in September on all
subjects of the preceding year is required for advancement to the third and
fourth years.

VI. Summer courses taken for the removal of deficiencies must be approved
by the professor in whose subjects the deficiencies were incurred; but
it shall be the duty of the student concerned to provide the information on
which to base the decision as to acceptability of courses; he must absolve
the summer work and have an official record mailed directly from the institution
to the professor at the University in charge of the subjects; and
in addition he must report for the special examination at this University and
make a passing grade therein.

VII. Any student, who makes a grade below passing on any term's
work or is in any way derelict in his duties, shall be warned, warned and
placed on probation, or dismissed, according to the merits of the case.


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The value in session-hours of the courses of the first three years:—

                     
First Year  Second Year  Third Year 
Anatomy 1  Physiology  Clinical Diagnosis  2.5 
Anatomy 2  Pathology  Medicine  4.0 
Histology  Pharmacology  Surgery  4.0 
Embryology  Materia Medica  Obstetrics  2.5 
Biochemistry  Physical Diagnosis  Orthopedics  1.5 
Bacteriology  Medicine  Pediatrics  2.0 
Surgery  Urology  1.0 
Ophthalmology  1.0 
Otolaryngology  1.0 
Totals  21  Totals  20  Totals  19.5 

Similar rules are enforced at practically all medical schools. It is exceedingly
difficult for a student who has been dropped or not advanced at
one school to secure admission to another. Compulsory withdrawal may
therefore terminate a medical career.

Candidates for the degree of Doctor of Medicine, who have less than
one full year's work to complete, may be required to take such additional
work and to pass such additional examinations as the Medical Faculty may
prescribe. This additional work may be selected from any of the courses
given in the Department of Medicine, even when such prescribed courses
have previously been taken and passed by the candidate in question.

Certificates of Attendance.—Students who attend the whole regular course
of one or more of the four years are entitled to an official statement under
the seal of the University, showing all courses for which the student was
registered each year as a medical student and the record (see above under
"Regulations") with the grade received on each course for which he was
registered. These statements will also contain any special faculty votes affecting
the student's registration in this school.

In no case will the University give an official certificate of the completion
of a part of a course. The professor in charge may, at his discretion, make
a personal statement by letter to the head of the same department in another
medical school of the work done by the student in his course; but he must
at the same time clearly state that this letter does not give credit in this
medical school.

Requirements for Graduation.—The degree of Doctor of Medicine is conferred
by the University of Virginia upon candidates who have complied with
the entrance requirements of this department; attended a regular medical
course of four years of at least eight months each, the last two of which
years must have been at this institution; and have satisfactorily completed
all of the subjects included in the medical course.

Examinations.—These are in writing, accompanied in many subjects by
individual practical examinations. Examinations may be held only during the
regular examination periods at the end of each term or during the vacation


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periods. No examinations may be given while regular class work is in progress;
provided this rule is not to be interpreted to prohibit unannounced
written tests or regular daily or weekly tests which count on the class standing
of students. The regular examinations are held at stated periods during
the session. In addition, examinations are held each year during the week
immediately preceding the beginning of lectures. To the latter are admitted:

1. Students of the previous session, who, from illness or other equivalent
cause approved by the faculty, were unable to present themselves for examination
in any particular subject at the regular time.

2. Students who at the regular examination in any first-, second-, or
third-year subject of the preceding session have attained a grade less than 80
per cent., but as much as 70 per cent., on one or more subjects, as explained
in a preceding paragraph. This does not apply to students who have been
required to withdraw, or required to repeat, under the Special Rules Governing
Advancement (pp. 371-372).

3. Certain applicants for advanced standing who are required to take
examinations by the Committee on Advanced Standing.

The usual period for special or conditioned examinations is in September
during the week of registration; but such examinations may be scheduled, at
the option of the professor in charge, for any other time, provided regular
class work is not in progress and also provided all students entitled to
take examinations agree to the change of date. For a special or condition
examination held at any other time than that assigned for all students entitled
thereto a fee of five dollars is charged. This fee must be paid to the
Bursar before the examination is held.

In all courses in which there is practical work, either in the laboratory
or in the outpatient department or wards of the hospital, two records are
returned to the Registrar's office for each student; one of these records is for
the practical laboratory or clinical work in which the record is P(assed),
D(eficient), or F(ailed), the other record is for the didactic work, including
the final examinations—in which case the record is P(assed), C(onditioned),
D(eficient), or F(ailed), with the approximate percentage grade. To obtain
a clear record on the course a student must have a record of P(assed)
both on practical and on didactic work; in no case will the two grades be
averaged. No record whatever is given on didactic work unless there is a
record of P(assed) on practical work nor will any record be given on practical
work until a clear record is obtained on didactic work; failure on practical
work gives a record of F(ailed) on the entire course.

The Fall Examinations for 1934-35 begin September 10 and close September
15. Students entitled to admission to these examinations will be informed
of the date of examination by the Dean.

medical attention, etc.; 3, the athletic fee; 4, special laboratory fees, as speci-

Expenses.—The fees for instruction are 1, the tuition fee; 2, the University
fee which entitles the student to the use of the Library, Gymnasium, to
fied in following table.


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First
Year 
Second
Year 
Third
Year 
Fourth
Year 
Tuition (Virginians)  $250 00  $250 00  $250 00  $250 00 
(Non-Virginians)  300 00  300 00  300 00  300 00 
University fee  60 00  60 00  60 00  60 00 
Athletic fee  15 00  15 00  15 00  15 00 
Laboratory Fees: 
Biochemistry  10 00 
Deposit in Biochemistry  10 00 
Anatomy 1 and 2  17 50 
Histology and Embryology  7 50 
Physiology  10 00 
Bacteriology  7 50 
Pathology  5 00 
Pharmacology  5 00 
Clinical Diagnosis  5 00  5 00 
Materia Medica  5 00 
Total (Virginians)  $377 50  $355 00  $330 00  $325 00 
(Non-Virginians)  427 50  405 00  380 00  375 00 

The minimum for necessary living expenses, including room, heat, light,
furniture, service, board, books, and laundry, is estimated at $400.

In the course in Biochemistry, a deposit of $10 is required to cover cost
of breakage.

A fee of $3.00 is required of all women students for the upkeep of the
"Women Students' Association Room."

Each student in the Department of Medicine is required to provide himself
with a satisfactory microscope.

Voluntary Withdrawal from the University requires the written consent
of the Dean of the University and the Dean of the Department in which the
student is registered. When a permit is granted upon the University Physician's
certificate that withdrawal is necessary on account of ill health, which
must not be due to dissolute conduct, the fees are returned pro rata. Under
no other circumstances will there be a return of fees.

Combined Degrees in Arts (or Science) and Medicine.—Students who
have credit for the 48 session-hours of the group electives required in this
University for the cultural baccalaureate degrees in arts and science may
substitute for 12 session-hours of Electives-at-Large the first-year course in
the Department of Medicine and receive the degree of Bachelor of Arts or
Bachelor of Science at the end of the year. For further information, see the
General Catalogue of the University.

The University offers also the degree of Bachelor of Science in Medicine.
This degree has been placed in charge of the Medical Faculty. It is awarded
on the recommendation of the Medical Faculty after the completion of the
second year of the medical curriculum to students who (1) present 33 session
hours of acceptable work in premedical academic subjects (whether taken
in the University or elsewhere) as specified below; (2) complete the first two


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years of the medical course in this University with grades in general higher
than the lowest passing grade; and (3) demonstrate by examination a reading
knowledge of medical French and German.

(1) Premedical Academic Subjects.—These must include:

           
Session-hours 
One year of College Algebra 
College Algebra, Solid Geometry, Plane Trigonometry 
Physics, Chemistry, and Biology  24 
With minimum requirements in each subject as follows:        
(a)  General Chemistry (including in this term
Analytical or Physical Chemistry) 
(b)  Organic Chemistry 
(c)  General Physics 
(d)  Biological Science 
 
Elective in subjects other than Physics, Chemistry and
Biology 

(2) First two years of the Medical Curriculum, completed with a record
of 30 honor points on first-year subjects and 40 honor points on second-year
subjects.

(3) Reading knowledge of Medical French and German.—This will be
tested by examination consisting of the translation of passages from textbooks
of Anatomy and Histology, Biochemistry, Physiology, and Pathology.
No specific college work is required although the equivalent of 3 session-hour
college courses in each of these languages is desirable and may be
offered as part of the premedical credits. The vocabulary of medical French
and German may best be acquired by using foreign text-books, etc., in the
above medical sciences as parallel reading, or as summer reading after the
completion of the above subjects in the regular medical course.