The Story of our Health Message

Calls for Medical Students

Early in the eighties published calls for prospective medical students began to appear. A course of “lectures to a select class of students who wish to prepare themselves to enter some first-class medical college” was offered in the winter of 1881 at the sanitarium; and it was stated for the benefit of such that “the practical instructions and exceptional opportunities for medical observation make this an unusually favorable opportunity for a few well-prepared young ladies and gentlemen who will be allowed to pay their way in assisting in various practical branches, in which they will gain invaluable experience, while helping themselves pecuniarily.”—Good Health, September, 1881. SHM 250.2

For the summer of 1882 we find a notice that the medical students at the sanitarium were taking “their annual departure,” with a specific mention of three young ladies returning to the state university in Michigan, two to Philadelphia, and one to the Bellevue Hospital College. Ibid., October, 1882. The summer vacations spent at the sanitarium enabled the students to gain an experience in the principles of rational treatments before continuing their studies in the colleges, where the pharmacopoeia still formed the basis for general treatment of the sick. SHM 250.3

Before time for the schools to open in the following autumn, “exceptionally excellent” advantages were again offered for “young men to begin the study of medicine.” A year’s work in the line of medical study and experience might be taken with opportunity to work for board and tuition. The qualifications required were “a first-class moral character”; “a fair literary education”; “good health, good manners, a good disposition,” with a willingness to work and study hard and a determination to excel. The Review and Herald, October 9, 1883. SHM 251.1

The response to these calls was, however, disappointing. Besides the Battle Creek institution, there was but one sanitarium in operation in the denomination (at St. Helena, California, opened in 1878), and it is not strange that there was no general conception of the possibilities before Seventh-day Adventist physicians. Hence, only a few responded to the calls; and among those who did avail themselves of this opportunity, not all appreciated the responsibilities of the profession as a missionary agency, or had an adequate conception of the qualifications for a Christian physician. SHM 251.2

In 1884 a most opportune and enlightening message was sent to the medical superintendent of the sanitarium and was made available for general circulation in the next number of Testimonies for the Church, published in 1885. It may be found in Volume V, pages 439-449, and begins by declaring: SHM 251.3

“Professional men, whatever their calling, need divine wisdom. But the physician is in special need of this wisdom in dealing with all classes of minds and diseases. He occupies a position even more responsible than that of the minister of the gospel. He is called to be a co-laborer with Christ, and he needs staunch religious principles, and a firm connection with the God of wisdom.” SHM 251.4