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A Tribute to the American Medical Association
A TRIBUTE TO THE
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION by EA~L R. SERLES PRESIDENT~ ,AMERICAN. PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
when you have worked alone ... when you have felt around you a black gulf of solitude more isolating than that which surrounds the dying man, and in hope and in despair ' have trusted to your own unshaken will. . . then only will you have achieved. Thtls only can you gain the sacred isolated joy of the thinker, who knows that a hundred years after he is dead and forgotten, men who have never heard of him will be moving to the measure of his thought ... the subtle rapture of a postponed power, which the world knows not, because it has no external trappings, but which to his prophetic vision is more real than that. which commands an army.
this issue of our INto D'theEDICATING American Medical Association, on t4e
JOURNAL
occasion of its centennial, we db , so fully con- ' scious of the fact that at best it represents an inadequate tribute to the .prog~nitors who founded the AssociatiQn on May 5, 1847. Then, as now, there were selfish interests that too frequently permeate the minds of men; and medical history clearly records the diversity of opinion among the practitioners of , that day ~s to the sincerity of purpose of th~se who unsel- , fishly devoted their efforts to bringing together various groups within the profession. But the delegates from 22 states and the District of Columbia who assembled on that memorable day in 1847 nobly met a challenge. It was a time of inadequate facilities of travel and an almost total lack of the meanS of communication. It was a time when men might earn the coveted degree of Doctor of Medicine by successfully completing (or perhaps we should say attending) formal lectures for a period of thirteen to sixteen weeks on two or three successive occasions-a far cry from the present seven-year collegiate pro' gram and year of internship. The delegates to that 1847 meeting saw far beyond the Jimitations. and conditions of the period in which they lived. 1;'rus is typified by the Code of Ethics that they promulgated, a code of such stature 'as to provide the proper guidance for medical practitioners even to this day. It is clear that the character of the men who assumed responsibility for formulatitlg these principles marks them as the leaders of the medical profession of their time. I t may even be that they should now be accorded the distinction of being known as truly gr~at men, whose wisdom and sincerity of purpose transcends the realm of mediocrity, elevating each to the position of a hero. Truly, these men have measured up in all respects to the standards set by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., when he said: No man has earned the right to intellectual ambition until he has learned to lay his course by a star which he has never seen ... to dig by the divining rod for springs which he may never reach.... To think great thoughts, you beas well ide'alists. Only
must heroeS'
as
In each succeeding generation, men have come forth to lead the American Medical Association to even greater 'accomplishments. Among their numbers are, to be found, not only skilled practitioners, but scientists~ economists, and citizens, who have unselfishly devoted their lives to the welfare of their fellow men. The inadequate medi~al curricula of 1847 have been e?Cpanded and enriched, not only with a wealth of scientific material developed in the modem colleges and universi~es, which are the pride of every state, but the men of the Association have also devoted themselves to tqe principles of government that still provide freedom for the individual. It would be inappropriate to attempt here an enumeration of the modern methods now employed in the treatment.of disease. Suffice it to say that we no longer dread the scourge of the "Black Death," bubonic plague, or the host of other infectious diseases that have in times past threatened civilization. Even in those uncharted seas which lie ahead, the dread ~f cancer, the fear of tuberculosis, and the burden of the diabetic lie within the realm of possible relief solely because the men charged with the responsibility of guiding the American Medical Association have not deviated from their purpose to serve mankind unselfishly. To the members of the American· Medical Association, ·who are this year celebrating a centiUy of progres~, the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL AsSOCIATION offers ifs mouie of ie'spect anCl eSteem.
256
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION by EA~L R. SERLES PRESIDENT~ ,AMERICAN. PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
when you have worked alone ... when you have felt around you a black gulf of solitude more isolating than that which surrounds the dying man, and in hope and in despair ' have trusted to your own unshaken will. . . then only will you have achieved. Thtls only can you gain the sacred isolated joy of the thinker, who knows that a hundred years after he is dead and forgotten, men who have never heard of him will be moving to the measure of his thought ... the subtle rapture of a postponed power, which the world knows not, because it has no external trappings, but which to his prophetic vision is more real than that. which commands an army.
this issue of our INto D'theEDICATING American Medical Association, on t4e
JOURNAL
occasion of its centennial, we db , so fully con- ' scious of the fact that at best it represents an inadequate tribute to the .prog~nitors who founded the AssociatiQn on May 5, 1847. Then, as now, there were selfish interests that too frequently permeate the minds of men; and medical history clearly records the diversity of opinion among the practitioners of , that day ~s to the sincerity of purpose of th~se who unsel- , fishly devoted their efforts to bringing together various groups within the profession. But the delegates from 22 states and the District of Columbia who assembled on that memorable day in 1847 nobly met a challenge. It was a time of inadequate facilities of travel and an almost total lack of the meanS of communication. It was a time when men might earn the coveted degree of Doctor of Medicine by successfully completing (or perhaps we should say attending) formal lectures for a period of thirteen to sixteen weeks on two or three successive occasions-a far cry from the present seven-year collegiate pro' gram and year of internship. The delegates to that 1847 meeting saw far beyond the Jimitations. and conditions of the period in which they lived. 1;'rus is typified by the Code of Ethics that they promulgated, a code of such stature 'as to provide the proper guidance for medical practitioners even to this day. It is clear that the character of the men who assumed responsibility for formulatitlg these principles marks them as the leaders of the medical profession of their time. I t may even be that they should now be accorded the distinction of being known as truly gr~at men, whose wisdom and sincerity of purpose transcends the realm of mediocrity, elevating each to the position of a hero. Truly, these men have measured up in all respects to the standards set by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., when he said: No man has earned the right to intellectual ambition until he has learned to lay his course by a star which he has never seen ... to dig by the divining rod for springs which he may never reach.... To think great thoughts, you beas well ide'alists. Only
must heroeS'
as
In each succeeding generation, men have come forth to lead the American Medical Association to even greater 'accomplishments. Among their numbers are, to be found, not only skilled practitioners, but scientists~ economists, and citizens, who have unselfishly devoted their lives to the welfare of their fellow men. The inadequate medi~al curricula of 1847 have been e?Cpanded and enriched, not only with a wealth of scientific material developed in the modem colleges and universi~es, which are the pride of every state, but the men of the Association have also devoted themselves to tqe principles of government that still provide freedom for the individual. It would be inappropriate to attempt here an enumeration of the modern methods now employed in the treatment.of disease. Suffice it to say that we no longer dread the scourge of the "Black Death," bubonic plague, or the host of other infectious diseases that have in times past threatened civilization. Even in those uncharted seas which lie ahead, the dread ~f cancer, the fear of tuberculosis, and the burden of the diabetic lie within the realm of possible relief solely because the men charged with the responsibility of guiding the American Medical Association have not deviated from their purpose to serve mankind unselfishly. To the members of the American· Medical Association, ·who are this year celebrating a centiUy of progres~, the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL AsSOCIATION offers ifs mouie of ie'spect anCl eSteem.
256