The Dominion. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1916. DEARTH OF DOCTORS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2686, 4 February 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1916. DEARTH OF DOCTORS

Tiie statement by the Minister of Public Health that the dearth of doctors is being seriously felt would seem to point to the necessity for our medical resources being more thoroughly organised. AVe have not only to see that the best possible use is made of the existing supply of doctors; we must also make provision for the future. Many medical students have responded to the Empire's call for soldiers. This will, of course, make a break in their professional training, and tend to interfere with the normal increase in the number of qualified men. This phase of the situation has received the attention of the Medical Committee of the _ University Senate. Special facilities arc to be given to students returning from active service to enable them to secure their diplomas without any unnecessary delay. For this purpose the Senate has sanctioned a number of modifications in the examination regulations. The whole position as regards the supply of doctors and the utilisation of their services requires very careful consideration. The Minister of Public Health states that his Department cannot meet the demands for medical .men which are insistently coming in from the back-blocks. This means that the medical- resources of the country must be readjusted and husbanded. _ There must ue no waste or overlapping. A clear distinction must be drawn between absolutely essential work and work that may properly be considered necessary in normal times, but which is only of _ secondary importance in a great crisis like the present. The New Zealand authorities would do well to watch what is heing done in Britain to solve the difficult medical problems which the war has created. At a recent meeting of., the General Medical Council, the .President (Sir Donald MacAlister) stated that as the army increased in numbers more and more surgeons would be required for military service. In the near future every qualified man of suitablo age who was fit for the work of an officer in the Medical Corps would be needed. The organisation of the profession in England and Scotland has been undertaken by the Medical War Committees. The younger practitioners aro being called upon to place their services at the disposal of the military authorities, and the doctors who remain behind are being asked to undertake increased labour and responsibility in order that the civil population may not have to go untc'nded. These, and other like measures, indicate that the danger of a policy of drift is being realised, and that the difficulties of the situation are being grappled with in a systematic way. Sir Clifford AllBifr, Sir William Osler, and Sir Frederick Treves have all expressed concern for the future owing to the falling off in the number of medical students. They are doubtful about the wisdom of recruiting medical students in their first three years. They state that if this policy is continued it will be impossible to satisfy the needs of the nation, which, dur-. ing the war, and after it is over, will be greater than it has been for many years past. Even if all medical students remain at their work, the position will still be one of anxiety, "but if these'young men are all called up there will be a catastrophe." This is the opinion of these distinguished authorities, and it strongly emphasises the necessity for the enforcement of the principle of national service and the organisation of all the nation's resources. National service, as has been frequently pointed out, does not mean that every physically fit man of military age should take his place in the actual fighting lines, but that every man should serve in that capacity, whatever it may be, in which he can do the most useful work for the State. In discussing the duty of a student of medicine in war time, Professor Welsh, of Sydney University, says lie cannot blame the student of medicine .who is unable to resist the _ appeal _to go to the front; but he is of opinion that the student who does most to help the Empire is lie who strenuously endeavours to make himself as fit as the shortened time will allow-, and waits to offer his services as a fully cjualified medical man. "What will it profit an army," the Professor asks, "to gain a_ plethora of munitions, if its soldiers are dying like flies 1" The essential thing is the spirit of sacrifice; the readiness to serve whenever and wherever the State thinks best. Some time ago, when Mr. Rhodes held the office of Minister of Public Health, the Government was giving serious attention to the question of tho best means of utilising the services of the medical men availablo in the country. What has been accomplished in this direction wo do not pretend to know, but it is obviously a matter in which the Government should turn for guidance and help to the Medical Association.