Let us approach this question by considering briefly the motives which led men of high grade into the practice of medicine a generation ago or before specialism with all its rewards was widely developed. The motives were, in general, the earning of a livelihood, a specific interest in medical science, and, in the great majority of instances, a very real desire to be of service to one’s fellow men. The chief reward was not the livelihood, which was often extremely meagre, or the satisfaction of scientific interest, but the appreciation, the love, the regard of a community. The physician was the friend and the guide of his patients who turned to him in sickness and in trouble, and he occupied a position among them which was almost unique. His was a life into which any unselfish, high-minded young man might well be drawn, and the reward was all that any man could ask for. Now there is no reason to believe that the type of man who enters the medical profession has altered. A few, of course, take it up purely as a respectable means of getting a living, but the preparation is so long, so expensive, and so laborious, the life itself is commonly known to be so exacting and the financial rewards are usually so moderate in all branches of the profession that the number of men who drift into medicine with no more definite object in view is inconsiderable. A somewhat larger group are drawn to medicine primarily because of a love of science, much as they might be to zoölogy or to chemistry, but this, too, accounts for only a small proportion of medical students. Medical students have a crowded curriculum and work hard during their course of study, but they are not noted for being particularly studious as a class and only a very limited number enter research or teaching, the obvious outlets for those imbued with profound scientific interest. There is evidence for this in the fact that while many excellent opportunities for scientific work have recently been created in teaching and research-institutions the number of applicants qualified for the positions remain seriously low. Interest in science is thus not the compelling factor with most of the men who enter the medical profession and another motive must be sought. To those who, as teachers, watch successive classes of medical students progress in their course of study it is always striking to see how each group responds with enthusiasm when, after a year or two of laboratory study, it reaches the stage where contact with patients begins. This is what they have been working toward and waiting for. Dissecting room, microscope, chemical experiment--these were but means to prepare them for the great end which is the human relationship between the physician and the patient. It is the desire for this human relationship, with its opportunity for sympathetic intimacy and altruistic service, that remains today, as it has been through all the generations, the