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Lot 187
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Theodore Roosevelt Signs off on a 150 page Naval Archive
Theodore Roosevelt Signs off on a 150 page Naval Archive
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Description:

Roosevelt Theodore 1858 - 1919 Theodore Roosevelt Signs off on a 150 page Naval Archive for the appointment of a surgeon
Archive of more than 150 pages for an appointment of Raymond Spear to a position of Naval Surgeon in 1897. Signed by Theodore Roosevelt as "T. Roosevelt", Acting Secretary of The Navy and dated "June 13, 1897". Each page with two binder hole punches along top edge. Additionally signed by Raymond Spear, M.D. Near fine.



The cover page of the archive states "Record Of Proceedings of the Naval Examining Board/convened at the Naval Laboratory, New York. In the case of "Raymond Spear"".


An intriguing detailed report for the review, requirements and subsequent recommendation of Raymond Spear, M.D. for a medical position as a surgeon in the US Navy. Includes a detailed record of his schooling, classwork and a thesis on Acute Pleurisy. An oral test was completed including the requirement to answer in writing one question, each, in History, Geography, Literature and Physics. Numerous lengthy essays from a written exam was included, such examples of which is a Chemistry question about Carbon--"How does it occur pure, in nature? How is it found combined in nature? How does the diamond differ from graphite? What are the chemical properties of Carbon? What is the formula for Carbonic acid….?" And as another example, " Dementia Paralytica. Give the etiology, morbid anatomy and symptoms." Included was a history question about providing a detailed account of the late Civil War between the Northern and Southern states. Numerous more pertinent medical questions were also asked, each example followed by a detailed, lengthy handwritten essay by Raymond Spears. This incredibly extensive report was signed by Theodore Roosevelt on the front page, as "T. Roosevelt", Acting Secretary, with the statement that "The findings and recommendations of the Boards in this case are "approved".


A fascinating account of the requirements to attain a position as a Naval surgeon, which leaves one wondering about the nature of what was involved to have an M.D. designation during that era, which was in its infancy and just forming rapidly changing protocols.


About the evolution of medical education as a background:


While American medical education was floundering in the mid-1800s, the reform of the system was already beginning. At the root of the transformation was a series of underlying events: the revolution in experimental medicine that was proceeding in Europe; the existence of a cadre of American doctors traveling to Europe (particularly Germany) to learn laboratory methods; the emergence of the modern university in America; the development of a system of mass public education to provide qualified students for the university; and the cultivation of a habit of philanthropy among some very rich industrialists. Together, these developments provided the infrastructure for a new system of medical education soon to appear.


The creation of America's current system of medical education occurred in two overlapping stages. In the first stage, which began in the middle of the nineteenth century, a revolution in ideas occurred concerning the purpose and methods of medical education. After the Civil War, medical educators began rejecting traditional notions that medical education should inculcate facts through rote memorization. Rather, the new objective of medical education was to produce problem-solvers and critical thinkers who knew how to find out and evaluate information for themselves. To do so, medical educators deemphasized the traditional didactic teaching methods of lectures and textbooks and began speaking of the importance of self-education and learning by doing. Through laboratory work and clinical clerkships, students were to be active participants in their learning, not passive observers as before. A generation before John Dewey, medical educators were espousing the ideas of what later came to be called "progressive education."


At the same time, a revolution occurred in the institutional mission of medical schools. The view emerged that the modern medical school should not only engage in the highest level of teaching but also should be committed to the discovery of new knowledge through research. This meant that medical schools could no longer remain freestanding institutions. Rather, they had to become integral parts of universities and hire scientifically trained, full-time faculty who, like all university professors, were researchers as well as teachers.


In the early 1870s, the first lasting reforms occurred, as Harvard, Pennsylvania, and Michigan extended their course of study to three years, added new scientific subjects to the curriculum, required laboratory work of each student, and began hiring full-time medical scientists to the faculty. In the late 1870s, the plans for the new Johns Hopkins Medical School were announced, though for financial reasons the opening was delayed until 1893. When the school finally did open, it immediately became the model by which all other medical schools were measured, much as the Johns Hopkins University in 1876 had become the model for the modern American research university. A college degree was required for admission, a four-year curriculum with nine-month terms was adopted, classes were small, students were frequently examined, the laboratory and clinical clerkship were the primary teaching devices, and a brilliant full-time faculty made medical research as well as medical education part of its mission. In the 1880s and 1890s, schools across the country started to emulate the pioneering schools, and a campaign to reform American medical education began. By the turn of the century, the university medical school had become the acknowledged ideal, and proprietary schools were already closing for lack of students.


Nevertheless, ideas alone were insufficient to create the modern medical school. The new teaching methods were extremely costly to implement, and hospitals had to be persuaded to join medical schools in the work of medical education. Thus, an institutional as well as an intellectual revolution was needed. Between 1885 and 1925 this revolution occurred. Large sums of money were raised, new laboratories were constructed, an army of full-time faculty was assembled, and clinical facilities were acquired. Medical schools, which had existed autonomously during the proprietary era, became closely affiliated with universities and teaching hospitals.

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