Burwell Talks to Pre-Med Society

With the country becoming steadily involved in the war, the need for more doctors, both in the services and out, increases daily, Dr. C. Sidney Burwell, Dean of the Harvard Medical School, said last night at a meeting of the Pre-Medical Society in the Union.

The war has not as yet taken any toll of the number of medical students at Harvard or anywhere else, Dr. Burwell said, but, contrary to popular belief, medical students can be drafted.

By a new system adopted by the Navy and War departments, first and second year students can be drafted, while third and fourth year students may have their conscription's deferred by enlisting as medical officers in one of the armed forces.

Students who do this will be subject to immediate call, but will be allowed to continue their medical preparation until such a time as the authorities deem sufficient for them to acquire all necessary knowledge.

In Germany, said Dr. Burwell, in contrast to this country, the medical schools have been so depleted by the war that they have been lumped together in large units, with a resultant loss of efficiency. So fantastically small, in fact, is the number that Dr. Burwell was unwilling to make it known, for fear that it would not be taken seriously. In England, however, the situation is much better.