MEDICINE AND THE PUBLIC1

Mr. President, Members of the Medica ciety, Ladies and Gentlemen: We are gat here to-night to dedicate this building t science of medicine in the District of Co bia, and, in a broader sense, to the servi the community and humanity.

This beautiful building is the realizati the dream of the society for a century over, and has been made possible by the lo and self-sacrifice of a large majority of medical men of this city, and the gener of many friends of our profession here elsewhere.

The funds necessary for the erection of building were raised in two years by the sistent, untiring efforts of the members o building committee, who have had superv of the preparation and execution of the I and who feel that they can congratulate architect, the contractor, the Medical So and the District of Columbia upon the re

While the funds immediately necessary the erection of the building have been ra there remains a mortgage of fifty thou dollars to be carried by the society.

It is the desire of a majority of the 1 bers that this indebtedness be paid off i near future in order that this building m presented to posterity as their contribu leaving the care and maintenance as the burden.

The aim of the Medical Society as ty in this building is the elevation of the p sion to a higher scientific standard fo creased public usefulness. There can b doubt that this aim concerns the public more than it does the profession. The highly developed the scientific attainmen the medical profession, the more it redo 1 Dedicatory address delivered on occasion opening of the new home of the Medical Socie the District of Columbia, January 12, 1921.

1

to the advantage of the public, which receives thereby increasingly efficient service from the individual members of the profession. It is in this way that the interests of the profession and the laity are interwoven.

Feeling, as we do, that the influence of our profession in public affairs just at the present time is not so potent as it was a generation ago, or as it should be, we have cast about to discover the cause and, following the traditions of our profession, to apply the appropriate remedy for the malady. After oft-repeated discussions the general feeling has come to prevail that the lack of professional solidarity is the underlying cause which robs us of the influence at the council table of our city which unselfish devotion to the best interests of the public appears to justify.

Recognizing the gravity of this condition, our former president, Dr. Davidson, conceived the cure, in leading the society to undertake the erection of a commodious centrally located home of its own. To him the members of the society are indebted for this beautiful edifice and his name will go down in the history of the society, and of this city, as one of the great benefactors of his time.

The beneficial effects are already evidenced in the enthusiastic loyal cooperation of the members of the society and of its lay friends who have made possible the completion of the task, rendered more difficult by the disturbed conditions which prevailed in this city and throughout the length and breadth of the land. No profession has loftier traditions and aims. than have animated the medical profession throughout all the ages. In the past the medical profession has been interested in all the great questions of the day, whether pertaining to the health of the community or matters entirely outside of the realm of medicine.

Let us not be satisfied with the accomplishment of scientific attainments, but ever keep in mind our broader duties as citizens of this great republic.

In fulfilling our duty to the public let us not be unmindful of our sacred obligations to the fellows of our own profession, especially those who through misfortune need our aid, sym

pathy and encouragemen may we not do well to people across the Pacifi symbolized in those tw upon the Temple of Ni traveller to 66 see no evil, evil." In the considera duties as true physicia earnest aid not only to th the moral and spiritual munity rests, but to giv such council and encour lines as lie within our p

In turning to a consi Medical Society of the I has accomplished for our ments of which we may b curbing of typhoid by se supply of pure water and ical inspection of the sch tional diseases, defective fectious fevers are reduc providing for new hospita ards of the older institu elimination of malaria tl tion of the Potomac fla breeding places of the mo control of contagious an through compelling quara such cases to the Health auguration of the crusade and the bringing the kn municability and the car the attention of the pub registration of births and other questions pertainin the public have been e ported by one Medical So

What I have said will c best individual and colle profession as represente Society of the District been and are being spen the community and of ou

Perhaps in none of the student by his mere entry den of responsibility; and measured by opportunity fession is he so certain

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plishments-to fall far below the ideal set for him by the traditions and history of his calling.

From the days of St. Luke to this very evening, the profession has recognized its duty and responsibility and in the fullest sense has endeavored to meet them. As steadily and quietly as water flows, and with the same beneficent effect upon mankind, the work of the medical man has proceeded through all the ages covered by recorded history.

At first, service rendered by his own hands to the sufferer-combining the functions of physician, surgeon, nurse and pharmacist; then, with the development of knowledge, a separation of these fields of work; then a cultivation and intensification of the possibilities in each field; but always service.

Always the subordination of his own comfort; of opportunities for wealth; of leisure; of home life; of public recognition; to the need of serving mankind; and, in instances without number, the sacrifice of life itself in the effort to serve his fellow man; to extend and broaden knowledge, and thereby acquire the means whereby others might live.

No man dare think or say these things of himself; but if they are to be seen in others, if they form a part of the noble traditions of a profession to which he has been called; if they are of the very character and being of his brothers in that profession, then he may recognize and proclaim them, for they are not only his, they are a portion of the heritage of all mankind.

The members of this Society permitted no object of personal ambition and no activity of professional life to withhold from our government during its hours of stress the devotion and service due from each citizen. This was proven by the ready response to the government's call for physicians during the recent World War, when more than one fourth of the total number of our doctors enlisted in one or another of the three branches of the service. Of this number three made the supreme sacrifice in giving their lives for their country.

During the campaign for obtaining for the erection of this building it was esting and gratifying to note that whe public became acquainted with the aim accomplishments of our medical socie responded promptly and generously to appeal for financial assistance, and I r that this appeal was not wholly, nor inde greater part, for the ultimate benefit o medical society, for, as I have already s the interest of the community and the s are identical.

Through the influence of this buildin standard of medical practise will be ele This will come about by additional fac for scientific research, by lectures with stimulating discussions, as well as by the sentation of unusual cases and rare speci

The Medical Society of the Distri Columbia has the standing of a state s and as such is an integral part of the A ican Medical Association. One of the trustees of the American Medical Associ who controls the finances and policies of great organization composed of more sixty thousand men of the medical profe is a member of our society. The society has its representative in the House of gates of the American Medical Associ It may not be inappropriate to menti this connection that we are the only society to hold weekly meetings throu the year, which in itself increases im urably its sphere of teaching.

The Medical Society of the Distri Columbia was founded September tw forth, eighteen hundred and seventeen during the one hundred and three years have elapsed since that time the scien modern medicine has been developed. society numbers among its members pas present physicians who have made val contributions to the development of m science.

The membership body of the Medica ciety of the District of Columbia com every branch of medical science and age of medical man from the recent gra to those who through long years of s