THE PEDIATRICIAN AND THE PUBLIC
COMMUNICATION FROM DR. ARTHUR HAWLEY PARMELEE, JR.
ARTHUR HAWLEY PARMELEE JR. M.D.
Editors: PAUL A. HARPER, M.D..
I read with great interest Dr. Rothman's manuscript, "The Quality of Medical Care," published in your section of Pediatrics in February, 1952. I am an admirer of Dr. Rothman, and his discussion of medical education was certainly a scholarly one. I would, however, like to present a difference of opinion regarding some statements in one paragraph of his manuscript. In this paragraph, he decries the fact that internes have so much time off and are getting married and having families while still in training. He infers that medical education has suffered by this change. I would like to quote some of this paragraph: ". . . at the turn of the century, the house staff had little or no time off and very little or no financial remuneration. Living quarters were provided within the hospital; matrimony was postponed . . . towards the end of the decade preceding the second world war, it became customary in the majority of the hospitals for the house staff to have every other night off, and every other week end off. Coincident with this change, the yearly stipend increased, and what with the war and some unknown factor, marriage became the rule rather than the exception.
