PREFATORY NOTES CONCERNING THE OFFICIAL REGISTER OF 1884. THERE are embraced in this-the third edition of the OFFICIAL REGISTER OF PHYSICIANS AND MIDWIVES IN ILLINOIS, revised up to December 1, 1884-the names, postoffice addresses, and other data necessary for the purposes of identification, of 5,585 physicians to whom certificates have been issued by the STATE BOARD OF HEALTH under the act to regulate the practice of medicine, approved May 29, 1877; and who comprise the great majority of those now engaged in practice in this State. To this number are to be added some 300 practitioners, who are exempt from the provisions of the law by reason of having practiced ten years in the State prior to July 1, 1877. So that the total number engaged in the practice of medicine in Illinois, at the close of 1884, is 5,885 of all classes.* Of the 5,585 certificated practitioners there are 4,780 who hold certificates from the STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, based upon "satisfactory proof of having received diplomas or licenses from legallychartered medical institutions in good standing;" 102 others are practicing under the certificates of the BOARD issued after satisfactory examination; and the remaining 703 are non-graduates who have taken out certificates based on years of practice, although not required so to do by the law. A number of the 4,780 certificated graduates are also exempt by reason of length of practice before the passage of the act, but have obtained certificates from the BOARD for the purpose of establishing their professional status. In the first REGISTER published by the BOARD, June 14, 1880, there were the names of 5,979 physicians, and in the second, published December 20, 1881, there were 5,587the number of those engaged in medical practice during the last four years showing on the whole, a slight absolute reduction, notwithstanding the increase of population. For purposes of comparison the following totals, from each of the three Registers, are here presented: Those exempt from the Medical-Practice Act, on account of length of practice, are. nevertheless, required by the STATE BOARD OF HEALTH Act to register their names and postoffice addresses in the office of the county clerk of their respective counties; and it is from the returns from these offices that the number of non-certificated physicians above given (300) has been obtained. From the above tabular statement it will be seen that, while the aggregate number of practitioners has not materially varied, there are some notable changes in the numbers of the different classes. Thus, there has been a gain of 498 graduates and licentiates of medical institutions-these now forming over 80 per cent. of the total number, as against about 70 per cent. in 1880; the number of licentiates upon examination of the STATE BOARD has been diminished nearly one-half-mainly by their transfer to the number of graduates, very many of them having, subsequent to their examination, attended lectures and obtained diplomas. Both classes of exempts show heavy losses, due mainly to death, graduation, abandonment of practice and removal from the State. The following summary, from the first REGISTER, and corresponding figures from the present volume, exhibit these changes for the whole period since the Medical-Practice Act went into operation Total number engaged in practice. : Graduates and licentiates. Non-graduates.... 48. 85. 52. 15. Percentage of graduates and licentiates in 1877 Percentage of non-graduates in 1884.. The numbers for 1877, above given, are approximated from the returns of county clerks to the STATE BOARD, from applications, and from correspondence on file in the office of the BOARD, and represent, with substantial correctness, the actual numbers of those claiming at that date to be engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery proper, exclusive of midwives. The number of graduates and licentiates in 1881, above given, includes 102 licentiates upon examination of the BOARD, and 150 non-certificated exempts. Among the graduates and licentiates there are also 421 who are licensed as pharmacists. |