"If my son is willing to face humiliation, stand for abuse, and not mind being made to feel inferior; if he is prepared to put up with outrageous conduct, disparagement, revilement, and impertinence; if he is sure not to mind the sneers of fools, the ill-usage of knaves, the reproach and mistreatment of his professional colleagues; if, in short, he is not averse to being heartsick all his life, to beg for positions, curry favor with the heads of hospitals, and all because he belongs to the Jewish race and has the audacity to bear a Jewish name,--then let him become a physician. But if he is of a proud disposition, possessed of self-respect, and unable or unwilling to bow and scrape under such circumstances, he should become a vender of merchandise, a politician, a policeman, or a bootlegger."

This is spoken by Leo Buerger, professor of Urologic surgery at the New York Polyclinic and Medical School, inventor of numerous surgical instruments, author of hundreds of papers on medical subjects, one of America's leading authorities on arterial disease and gangrene, and a famous surgeon 2at the Mount Sinai. It was Leo Buerger, the Jew, that was talking, and his eyes blazed as he described the many hardships that beset the path of the young physician in the Metropolis.

"It's high time that the truth was told about the unbelievably outrageous conditions under which reputable Jewish physicians are made to suffer in this city. To say that the medical profession in every large American city is honeycombed with anti-Semitism is to put it very mildly. Yes, there is an organized movement on the part of the Gentile physicians to keep their Jewish colleagues out of the hospitals, medical societies, and medical journals. Jewish physicians are discriminated against in every shape and form. Hardly any Jewish physician, regardless of his eminence in the profession, can break a hospital. With the exception of the Mount Sinai, there are no first-rate hospitals where Jewish doctors can come for training. Henry Ford's Jew-baiting is child's play compared with the shameless treatment meted out to our Jewish physicians. I don't know of any other profession in the United States in which a similar condition exists. There are renowned medical societies that limit their Jewish membership to only one percent irrespective of the merit of the applicants. It has happened 3times without number that Jewish doctors that had made brilliant contributions to their profession, written excellent books, and acquired an enviable reputation for skill and probity, were denied admission to a hospital or medical society for no other reason except their Jewishness. This state of affairs is becoming worse an worse every day. There seems to be no remedy. With the growth of the number of Jewish physicians and their fame as surgeons and internists, the envy and hatred on the part of their Gentile colleagues increase by leaps and bounds. There is hardly a Jewish doctor that has not been made to feel that his presence is not welcomed in a general hospital."

Coming of a surgeon of such renown, the above utterances of Dr. Buerger are bound to make a profound impression on every Jewish reader. Many a prospective Jewish medical student will bethink himself twice before entering the profession. It is of the utmost importance that Jewish medical students should possess a through knowledge of the trials and tribulations which they are sure to experience.

The science of medicine began with the ancient Greeks, but throughout 4the ages Jews have been famous as physicians and surgeons. During the medieval centuries the lamp of medical science was kept burning by Jewish physicians. In every age and in every land Jews won fame and power thanks to their skill as doctors.

A Greek philosopher, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who was born about 460 B. C., was a careful observer and conscientious student and was much loved and highly honored by his countrymen. He knew the effects of many drugs, understood the influences of unsanitary surroundings and was able to ascribe many diseases to unwholesome diet. Inasmuch as the early Greeks opposed the mutilation of human bodies, he knew little about anatomy. His code of ethics has given dignity to the medical profession. Hippocrates observed carefully the progress of disease; Aristotle, who followed him through the study of the structure of animals, made our first known contributions to anatomy, although it is possible that the Egyptians, who were accustomed to embalm the bodies of the dead, knew something of the structure of the human body. . .

It is safe to say that medicine is the hardest profession to learn; 5besides, it costs more to become a doctor than either a lawyer or a dentist. Year by year the requirements for admission to medical colleges are becoming more exacting. Fifteen or twenty years ago the average graduate of a medical school was about 21 years; today most medical graduates are twenty-five years old.

In 1906, there were 162 medical schools in the country, more than in the rest of the world. Today there are only 81 medical colleges. Two-thirds of the reductions were due to mergers.

The entrance requirements of medical schools in the United States are now equal to those in medical schools abroad.

It has been pointed out that a quarter of a century ago fewer than a fourth of the medical colleges in the United States required even high school education. This year 4,100 students will graduate from medical schools; in 1925, 5,200.

The standards of admission, as approved by the committee on Education of 6the American Medical Association and adopted by most of the medical colleges, are very precisely set forth. Each student is required to have had a full four-year course of training in a recognized high school, or its equivalent.

All the medical colleges in the country are rated annually by the A. M. A., which publishes a classified list of medical colleges. Every first-class medical college is expected to own or control a hospital to which the students may come in contact with the patients under supervision of their teachers. Chicago can point to six outstanding medical schools.

There is a ruling in this state that a man cannot practice medicine if he has "flunked" more than one year. He must go to another state to practice. Moreover, the medical student is required to receive at least seventy-five per cent in every subject in order to pass his examination. This compares with sixty per cent in law, for example. But this is not all; if the student is unfortunate enough to "flunk" in only one subject, 7he must repeat the whole year. However, he is permitted to take a second examination two or three months later, usually in September, when the new term begins.

After the medical student has secured his diploma, his troubles are by no means at an end. He must look around for a hospital in which to serve as an interne. In this state there is no law requiring medical school graduates to serve an apprenticeship in a hospital, but nine out of every ten young men are anxious to spend at least one year as internes. Owing to the keen competition very few poor men manage to become internes, unless they have "pull." Ever so many graduates of medical colleges are on the lookout for girls whose dads are on a hospital board....

In a way New York is the most favorable place for a Jewish physician, owing to the vast Jewish population. Jews, as we all know, are very particular about their health. The average Jew spends much money on doctors not because he necessarily suffers from more diseases than his Gentile neighbor, but because he appreciates the value of good health. Why, poor Jewish workingmen will pay $25 or $50 in order to see a recognized specialist, 8whereas a Gentile of the same class would never dream of such a thing. The waiting-rooms of the greatest specialists are filled with Jews from the poorest sections of the city. As soon as a Jewish patient finds his family doctor gives him no relief, he insists on sending for a specialist. This explains why the average Jewish general practitioner has a harder time of it than his gentile colleague. Naturally, very many Jewish physicians have realized the value of specializing. Today we have Jewish internes and surgeons in this city that can compare favorably with the greatest Gentile specialists. This is probably an important reason why the Gentile doctors seek to keep the Jewish physicians out of the general hospitals and medical societies.