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State Education and State Medicine
DENTAL ECONOMICS STATE E D U C A T IO N A N D STATE M EDICINE
T
HE state educates us, why should it activity depends largely on how closely not heal us? It protects us against it is limited to the fields for which it is invasion, why not against disease? fitted. W hatever can be done for the So runs one of the most frequent argu people as a whole, the state can usually ments for state medicine. do with fair success. W here individuals Perhaps the state system of education must be distinguished and given widely failed in its effort to teach logic to those different and suitable treatment, the mass who reason thus. Analogy is proverbially action of government is seldom successful. a dangerous foundation for a logical pre The state can establish quarantine to mise. Disease and education differ widely protect the whole people against the in even though many exposed to both fail vasion of disease, collect and tabulate to get either. vital statistics of the whole population, For the special comparison, differences assist in health education, urge wide are greater than resemblances. Every spread general immunization and rally one needs all the education he can get, the forces to meet the mass attacks of epi especially if he is to be of value to a demo demics. W ithin those limits and such cratic state. In childhood and youth we others as have the same qualities, the all need much the same sort of educa medical profession has always aided and tion and even as adults there are so many encouraged state activity. who wish to learn the same things that W hen individuals are to be aided in re books, lectures, classes and radio can be covery from illness, the analogy with edu used effectively for mass educational cation becomes a contrast. It is seldom treatment. It is possible to make fairly that two persons need exactly the same accurate diagnoses of ignorance and of treatment. Medical service is seldom as progress through educational treatment helpful when given to groups or classes as by mass examinations, although even in when administered to individuals. The education there are some doubts as to the degree of disease and progress of recovery accuracy and efficiency of such mass vary widely, are hard to measure and methods. cannot be standardized in grades. Ignorance does not come on suddenly Medical service does not fit into time and create an emergency demand for edu tables. Its value depends largely on a cation. The need for education varies personal relation between two individuals slightly with times and conditions. The — the sick person and his physician. It positive benefits of education are not con must be given in widely varying intervals fined to the individual. Society obtains to each individual, and its value depends a direct return for its investment in the in a high degree on the way it is suited to each personal situation. education of its members. Health and ignorance are alike in only The reasoning that would have medi a few features and within those limits the cine follow the educational pattern is fu r state is already active. The value of that ther weakened by an increasing apprehen Jour. A .D .A ., Vol. 23, October, 1936
1998
1999
Dental Economics
sion that standardization in education has not been wholly successful. Forcing teachers and pupils into a common mold is held to be destructive of both individ ual and social values, to injure those of exceptional ability and thereby to deprive the nation of greatly needed intelligent, independent leadership. Political influence and pressure groups have worked much harm to education, although it is much better suited than medical service to resist or endure such influences. It is charged that supervision by lay boards, ignorant of pedagogic methods, has hindered professional prog ress and tended to cripple the freedom of thought and investigation that is of fun damental importance in education. Again such influences would be much more de structive in the medical field. In spite of the fact that education is freely offered by the state to every one and that over 26,000,000 pupils were in elementary and high schools in 19311932, there were at the same time over 2,700,000 in private and parochial schools. In other words, 10 per cent of the population refused to accept the free
standardized system offered and preferred to pay for the kind of education they con sidered more suitable to their individual desires. The total cost of public day schools amounted to over $2,160,000,000 and the expenditures in universities and colleges was over $600,000,000 more. It was im possible even with these great expendi tures and the enormous extent of stand ardization to provide employment for those who had been accepted as teachers, so that in 1930 there were nearly 12,000 teachers, in the words of the census, “out of a job, able to work and looking for a job.” The effect of the depression was widespread, causing reduction in educa tional services and failure to pay those teachers who still remained at their work. To the extent that education does re semble medical service, it seems to have suffered under state administration. Only where the contrast is greatest has it been successful. If a comparison is to be made, it would seem to be a warning rather than as an exampl e. — Aug. 22, 1936.
D IV ISIO N OF O R A L H YGIEN E OF T H E N O R T H C A R O L IN A S T A T E B O A R D OF H E A L T H NORTH CAROLINA DENTAL SOCIETY ECO NOMIC ORGANIZATION PLAN
The North Carolina Dental Society is divided into five districts. Each district has an economic committee of four mem bers, one of which is chairman. T he state deputy of the American Dental Associa tion economic committee is chairman of the state committee. This organization plan permits all economic information to pass rapidly from the Central Office through the district member and state deputy to the five state component socie Jour. A.D./I., Vol. 23, October, 1936
ties. Conversely, it enables the five state committees to keep in close touch with all economic activities within their district and report them through their state dep uty and district member to the Central Office. NORTH CAROLINA DENTAL EDUCATIONAL PLAN
E. C. Branch, state director of den tal hygiene of North Carolina and ad visory member to the Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, describes
T
HE state educates us, why should it activity depends largely on how closely not heal us? It protects us against it is limited to the fields for which it is invasion, why not against disease? fitted. W hatever can be done for the So runs one of the most frequent argu people as a whole, the state can usually ments for state medicine. do with fair success. W here individuals Perhaps the state system of education must be distinguished and given widely failed in its effort to teach logic to those different and suitable treatment, the mass who reason thus. Analogy is proverbially action of government is seldom successful. a dangerous foundation for a logical pre The state can establish quarantine to mise. Disease and education differ widely protect the whole people against the in even though many exposed to both fail vasion of disease, collect and tabulate to get either. vital statistics of the whole population, For the special comparison, differences assist in health education, urge wide are greater than resemblances. Every spread general immunization and rally one needs all the education he can get, the forces to meet the mass attacks of epi especially if he is to be of value to a demo demics. W ithin those limits and such cratic state. In childhood and youth we others as have the same qualities, the all need much the same sort of educa medical profession has always aided and tion and even as adults there are so many encouraged state activity. who wish to learn the same things that W hen individuals are to be aided in re books, lectures, classes and radio can be covery from illness, the analogy with edu used effectively for mass educational cation becomes a contrast. It is seldom treatment. It is possible to make fairly that two persons need exactly the same accurate diagnoses of ignorance and of treatment. Medical service is seldom as progress through educational treatment helpful when given to groups or classes as by mass examinations, although even in when administered to individuals. The education there are some doubts as to the degree of disease and progress of recovery accuracy and efficiency of such mass vary widely, are hard to measure and methods. cannot be standardized in grades. Ignorance does not come on suddenly Medical service does not fit into time and create an emergency demand for edu tables. Its value depends largely on a cation. The need for education varies personal relation between two individuals slightly with times and conditions. The — the sick person and his physician. It positive benefits of education are not con must be given in widely varying intervals fined to the individual. Society obtains to each individual, and its value depends a direct return for its investment in the in a high degree on the way it is suited to each personal situation. education of its members. Health and ignorance are alike in only The reasoning that would have medi a few features and within those limits the cine follow the educational pattern is fu r state is already active. The value of that ther weakened by an increasing apprehen Jour. A .D .A ., Vol. 23, October, 1936
1998
1999
Dental Economics
sion that standardization in education has not been wholly successful. Forcing teachers and pupils into a common mold is held to be destructive of both individ ual and social values, to injure those of exceptional ability and thereby to deprive the nation of greatly needed intelligent, independent leadership. Political influence and pressure groups have worked much harm to education, although it is much better suited than medical service to resist or endure such influences. It is charged that supervision by lay boards, ignorant of pedagogic methods, has hindered professional prog ress and tended to cripple the freedom of thought and investigation that is of fun damental importance in education. Again such influences would be much more de structive in the medical field. In spite of the fact that education is freely offered by the state to every one and that over 26,000,000 pupils were in elementary and high schools in 19311932, there were at the same time over 2,700,000 in private and parochial schools. In other words, 10 per cent of the population refused to accept the free
standardized system offered and preferred to pay for the kind of education they con sidered more suitable to their individual desires. The total cost of public day schools amounted to over $2,160,000,000 and the expenditures in universities and colleges was over $600,000,000 more. It was im possible even with these great expendi tures and the enormous extent of stand ardization to provide employment for those who had been accepted as teachers, so that in 1930 there were nearly 12,000 teachers, in the words of the census, “out of a job, able to work and looking for a job.” The effect of the depression was widespread, causing reduction in educa tional services and failure to pay those teachers who still remained at their work. To the extent that education does re semble medical service, it seems to have suffered under state administration. Only where the contrast is greatest has it been successful. If a comparison is to be made, it would seem to be a warning rather than as an exampl e. — Aug. 22, 1936.
D IV ISIO N OF O R A L H YGIEN E OF T H E N O R T H C A R O L IN A S T A T E B O A R D OF H E A L T H NORTH CAROLINA DENTAL SOCIETY ECO NOMIC ORGANIZATION PLAN
The North Carolina Dental Society is divided into five districts. Each district has an economic committee of four mem bers, one of which is chairman. T he state deputy of the American Dental Associa tion economic committee is chairman of the state committee. This organization plan permits all economic information to pass rapidly from the Central Office through the district member and state deputy to the five state component socie Jour. A.D./I., Vol. 23, October, 1936
ties. Conversely, it enables the five state committees to keep in close touch with all economic activities within their district and report them through their state dep uty and district member to the Central Office. NORTH CAROLINA DENTAL EDUCATIONAL PLAN
E. C. Branch, state director of den tal hygiene of North Carolina and ad visory member to the Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, describes