A clergyman's idea of a model physician : an address delivered at the commencement of the Albany Medical College, June 8, 1858 / by Duncan Kennedy.

  • Kennedy, Duncan, 1809-1887.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A clergyman's idea of a model physician : an address delivered at the commencement of the Albany Medical College, June 8, 1858 / by Duncan Kennedy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    of any class of men, professional or otherwise, is not likely to vary much from the line of rectitude by which every honest mind should seek to be guided. The moral sense of sober, right thinking persons, has prescribed certain quali- fications and a certain routine of duty for clergymen, and the standard is, for the most part, acknowledged to be cor- rect, as it coincides with the general requirements and sanctions of the divine word. So also in regard to the legal profession. And the same authority has pronounced upon the qualifications and actions becoming the physician; and Ave have no reason to conclude that its demands are either unjust or tyrannical. It should not then be a matter of indifference to any young man to be distinctly informed what is expected of him when he becomes an actor in the chosen sphere of his future life. He is not wise who de- clares himself uninfluenced by the opinions of his equals ; he is self-conceited and rash who ventures to scout the convictions of those who are his superiors in years and practical wisdom, and to whose countenance and sympathy he is to be so much indebted for future success. I care not what people may think of me, is the language, not of a noble, independent nature, anxious to appropriate all law- ful appliances for doing good, but of a reckless, ignoble spirit, which can neither appreciate the delicacy, nor com- prehend the force of refined and elevated sentiments. As an humble representative, on this occasion, of a pro- fession in some respects allied to your own, and with the members of which you will frequently come in contact in the exercise of common sympathies and duties, I trust I shall not be found trenching on professional courtesy in the announcement and treatment of my subject, to wit: A clergyman's idea of a model physician. It is always profitable—if not always agreeable—to know what others who do not look through the same professional medium with ourselves, think of us, and expect of us. And I assure you, that should some future occasion serve I