The Medical College.  The Young Doctors Who Are Enjoying Their Vacation

The Tennessee medical students commenced their holiday season Friday evening, and next Monday, January 2, they resume business.

It is not generally so understood, but it matters not whether one is white or black, high or low, if they have any bodily ailment that needs attention they can receive it at this college.  There is a food presentment that the medical college is a place of eating up, cutting up and wholly devouring every person that is brought inside of the building.  A bigger fool idea could not be conceived.  The medical authorities are the last on earth who could think of doing such business.  It would not only hurt the reputation of the college, but silly superstitious people could not be persuaded but that those who were taken there would be submitted to all sorts of operations.  The college could not any more undertake such a thing than any ordinary doctor.  They would be as quickly found out as any doctor, and they could much less afford to allow such practices.

The fact is if any of us had a finger, leg or arm to amputate, it would be much better to go to them to have it done, because it would have to be done by experienced professors in the presence of nearly two hundred students — and, naturally, in the way of proper instruction, it would have to be properly done, and the beauty of the operation would be that while correctly done it costs nothing, while with the ordinary surgeon he might charge a handsome fee for doing something that was not necessary.

Source:  Knoxville Daily Journal and Tribune, December 29, 1892, page 4