Medicine: School Statistics

Last week the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association made public the present status of medical education in the U. S. The number of medical students has been reduced from 28,142 in 1904 to 12,930 in 1919, although the number in better-equipped colleges was increased from 4% to 88%. Since 1919, better-drained students have been increasing at the rate of more than 1,000 each year, the total enrolment for 1924 being 17,728, of whom 95% are in Class A medical schools. Since 1919, with the exception of the War class which graduated in 1922, the number of physicians graduating each year has been rapidly increasing. This year there were 3,562 graduates, of whom 94% were from the better-equipped colleges.

During 1924, there are 954 women studying medicine, or 73 less than last year. The percentage of women to all medical students is 5.4. In 1906 there were 162 medical colleges in the U. S., of which 130 were nonsectarian, 19 homeopathic, 8 eclectic, 3 physiomedical, 2 nondescript. The numbers have, been gradually reduced so that in 1924 there are 73 nonsectarian, 2 homeopathic, 1 eclectic, 3 nondescript. Of the nondescript colleges, two are intimately connected with osteopathy, and one intimately associated with the notorious diploma-mill ring which was the subject of recent exposure.

The tuition charges for medical students vary greatly—12 colleges charging $125 or less per year; 30 between $125 and $225; 29 between $225 and $325, and 8 above $325.

Five hundred and thirty-four free scholarships for worthy students are available in medical schools, and a great many medical schools also have loan funds for the use of worthy students who have not sufficient money to complete the course.