The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 586 - 297: Medical Ethics Issues in the 19th Century

"Have some gin with water, the cold winds of winter nights are quite chilling, I see your faces are all reddened from the cold,"

In the private meeting room on the second floor, Arthur pushed two amber-colored gin drinks toward the two uninvited strangers in front of him, then immediately lit his pipe and leaned back on the sofa.

"Thank you."

After expressing their thanks, the guests, with their fingers stiff from the cold, tremulously picked up the glasses and gestured for the young man who had come with them to have a drink as well.

"John, have some too,"

After receiving his master’s approval, the young man began to sip his drink tentatively.

Seeing this, Arthur just smiled and asked, "Your name is John?" freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Yes," the youth nodded and said, "John Snow, that’s my name."

"Snow? Snow," Arthur said with a laugh, "Your surname matches winter quite well. Let me guess, you wouldn’t happen to be Scottish? Most of Britain’s snow seems to concentrate there."

The young man, seeing this important figure so approachable, got bolder and replied, "Sir, I am from York. Do you know York? It snows in our winters too."

"Oh, another man from York."

Arthur laughed, "There really are quite a few Yorkmen in Liverpool, maybe because it’s so close. Honestly, you’re the second fellow townsman I’ve met here."

To this revelation, Snow also expressed some surprise, asking, "So are you originally from York too?"

"Yes," Arthur nodded with a smile, "Not only that, I used to be quite adept at raising Yorkshire pigs. If I hadn’t gone off to study in London, I’d probably be the best pig farmer back home by now, though what I raise now isn’t too shabby either. Speaking of which, have you ever raised Yorkshire pigs?"

Snow shook his head, "Never raised them, but I’ve seen plenty. I once thought about becoming a swineherd myself, but my father felt that being a swineherd, like his job as a miner, had no future. So, he got my uncle to help and introduced me to Mr. William Hardscale here to apprentice as a pharmacist."

"A pharmacist’s apprentice?" Arthur turned his gaze toward the middle-aged gentleman, "So you must be Mr. Hardscale then?"

The middle-aged man extended his hand, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Hasting. William Hardscale, a surgeon and pharmacist certified by the Royal College of Surgeons."

Although Arthur knew that many industries in Britain still predominantly operated on an apprenticeship basis, he was still quite surprised to hear that it applied to doctors as well.

The doctors he knew, albeit few, had all received formal university education.

These doctors, even if not graduates of esteemed institutions like the University of Edinburgh or Glasgow University, received at least two to three years of training at a medical school.

However, the appearance of this doctor, initially coming forth with a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old apprentice, inevitably led Arthur to doubt his professionalism.

Arthur candidly expressed his reservations, and Hardscale did not hide his thoughts.

"Mr. Hasting, it seems you aren’t very familiar with the medical profession. Actually, for most doctors, they go through an eight-year apprenticeship during their adolescent years. During these years, they learn various pharmaceutical knowledge and grasp basic pharmacology while assisting the doctors,"

After the eight-year apprenticeship, they then enter medical schools for higher education before selecting a specialty at the Royal College of Physicians or the Royal College of Surgeons to take their exams. Only after passing these exams do they truly qualify to practice medicine independently."

"The type of doctors you previously encountered, who entered university straight away, are typically from wealthy families. Their career paths are completely different from those of us who are genuinely fighting on the front lines. They dominate the academic circles, and we’re in the frontline clinics and hospitals."

Although Hardscale repeatedly mentioned he meant no criticism, even a deaf person could detect his resentment towards some of his colleagues from his frustrated expression.

But Arthur could understand his feelings.

According to Hardscale, a grassroots doctor needed at least eight years of apprenticeship plus two to three years of medical school training before they could practice independently, whereas those from affluent backgrounds only needed three to four years of university education.

However, despite the longer training period for grassroots doctors, they still faced discrimination due to their educational background. Medical students graduating from prestigious universities like Edinburgh or Glasgow were more valued than these grassroots doctors.

Whether in publishing papers in medical journals or in getting jobs at renown hospitals, their ranking was always behind others.

Anyone in that situation would be upset.

As a victim of educational discrimination himself, Mr. Hasting, a distinguished graduate of the University of London, often intermittently underperformed when he was at Scotland Yard, usually for this reason.