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DEGREE.

The degree of Doctor of Medicine is conferred upon such students
as prove their fitness for the same by rigid and searching examination.
It has ever been the policy of the Institution to make its
honors testimonials of merit, and not certificates of attendance on a
prescribed course of instruction. In accordance with this policy, the
degree of Doctor of Medicine may be conferred upon a first-course
student if found worthy of it. Not only is it within reach of the
intelligent, diligent and persevering to graduate in one session of nine
months, but in point of fact many do thus graduate. A longer time,
however, is often devoted to the necessary preparation, and wisely,
when circumstances permit. It is not an unusual case that an
academic student, looking forward to medicine as his profession,
conjoins a part of the medical with his academic studies during one
session; and during the next, entering as a medical student proper,
he is enabled to graduate at the close thereof with comparative ease.
But the majority of the students who attend medical lectures in this
institution do not graduate here. They spend one session in reaping
its well-known advantages, and subsequently resort to the city
schools to secure their degrees and profit by the facilities afforded for
clinical instruction. As a class, the excellence of their preparation is
recognised in all the leading city schools of this country, and this
appreciation generally proves a ready passport to success in achieving their special objects.

The University of Virginia is resorted to by many of the young
men of the South, and by some from other sections, seeking higher
culture in literature and science as well as in the learned professions.
They bring with them the well-marked characteristics of a manly,
sincere and generous people, and form a fraternity, the source of
pleasant recollections and beneficial influences in after life. The opportunity
thus afforded of forming associations with contemporaries who
are to be the cultivated and leading men of their day throughout a
wide section of country, is not unworthy of regard by those who are
preparing for the medical profession. This consideration, in addition
to the ample facilities for special and professional instruction as the
tastes and purposes of the student may dictate, will, it is believed,
continue to invite to the Medical Department not only Southern
students, but also students from the North and West, who may wish
to attend an institution comprehensive in its plan and organization,
catholic in its teachings, and national in its spirit.

Laboratory Course of Medical Chemistry.

☞ In addition to the usual course of Medical Lectures, a special
course, for such medical students as may desire to pursue it, of sixteen
lessons in the practical applications of Chemistry to Medicine (the
detection of poisons, chemical and microscopic examinations of
animal products, urine, blood, &c.), will be given by the Professor of
Analytical Chemistry at a charge of $20 tuition-fee and $5 for laboratory
material consumed. Attendance on this special course is
optional with the student.

☞ The expenses of the medical student amount to $386 per session
of nine months, commencing 1st of October; or if a student
messes, to $296 per session. (See Expenses, page 56.)