Distribution of professional students in 1899 The map does not show Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico which have no professional schools, or Cuba and the Philippines where professional schools are connected with the universities at Havana and Manila respectively. 262 reported receipts exceeding $5,000,000 (New York 31 per cent), 270 expenditures exceeding $4,500,000 (New York 28 per cent). Degrees are granted by 73 theological schools, 82 law schools, 152 medical schools, 56 dental schools, 45 schools of pharmacy and 16 veterinary medical schools. Distribution of professional schools and students in 1899– 38 political divisions of the United States report professional schools and students as follows: 1 210 Sc. 3 065 St. 6 777 3 St. 526 2415 2 475 7 345 1 392 6 16 13 St. 5 988 3 846 3 550 3 обг 432 I 066 I 331 Sc. St. I 503 485 5 589 302 3 497 4 301 346 179 3 135 135 4 395 2 258 IIO 1 I 3 2 1 6 2 2 5 102 Sc. 178 75 83 170 877 26 o 37 27 7 22 Sc. -school; St, -student. Sc. St. Illinois... 18 New York ... 17 1 039 Pennsylvania. 17 813 Missouri 448 Ohio... Massachusetts 514 Maryland. 6 561 Tennessee ... 8 226 Michigan .... 3 3 401 District Columbia 5 105 Iowa........ 5 204 California.... 5 4 160 Texas. 16 Louisiana.... 23 New Jersey... 5 459 Connecticut 3 152 Colorado ..... 33 Nebraska .... 3 3 165 8093 365 323 456 446 236 75 259 176 72 o 194 93 117 27 166 86 31 mmnamumeNAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MMMMMOON ON MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 26 1 462 1 357 1 323 I 106 911 813 522 501 485 455 429 413 410 392 359 293 215 200 2 IO 109 253 179 239 172 167 171 215 182 97 108 131 45 25 65 33 45 IO IO 86 11 883 156 56 7 633 52 3 563 24 119 The following report no professional schools : Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indian territory, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Utah, Wyoming. Not including students at the University of Havana: law 124, medicine 98, pharmacy 98 (1899), or at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila: theology 6, law 558, medicine 404, pharmacy 51 (1897). Grand total, including also 1916 graduate medical students, 58,924. Illinois leads for the first time in professional students, a fact due to a lack of proper control of the power to grant degrees and licenses. Including students in graduate medical schools, New York and Illinois report about the same number of professional students in 1899. Varying standards — There is no national authority in the United States that can prescribe standards for degrees or for license to practise the professions. Each state makes its own professional laws. As a result there are almost as many standards as there are political divisions. The desirability of uniform standards throughout the country for admission to professional practice is recognized generally, but varying conditions as to density of population, educational advantages and general development make it impracticable to hope for the attainment of this end for some time to come.' 30 years ago the public had little protection from incompetency in professional practice. The bar is said to have been at its lowest ebb. Medical laws were crude and largely inoperative. In several states only were there any acts designed to control the practice of pharmacy and dentistry. There was no law whatever restricting the practice of veterinary medicine. There has been extraordinary progress, specially in the last decade, in restrictive professional legislation, and in the admission and graduation requirements of professional schools throughout the United States. In view of these facts the growth in professional students is remarkable. From 1888 to 1899 the increase was as follows: theology 24 per cent, law 224 per cent, medicine 84 per cent, dentistry 380 per cent, pharmacy 31 per cent, veterinary medicine 17 per cent. In 1890, when the last U. S. census was taken, the ratio to population for each given profession was: clergymen i to 710, lawyers 1 to 699, physicians 1 to 598, dentists i to 3579. The corresponding ratios for 1870 were : clergymen i to 879, lawyers i to 946, physicians i to 617, dentists i to 1 See section on Influence of medical societies. |