Army and Navy to Get Majority Of 131 Medical School Graduates

Special military ceremonies were held in Vanderbilt Hall, at the Medical School, on Wednesday afternoon, December 22, for the 74 Army trainees and 27 Navy trainees who were receiving commissions upon completion of their preparation. Of the 131 men who completed medical training, only 30 were going into civilian practice.

Major General Sherman Miles, Commanding General of the First Service Command; Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald, Commandant of the First Naval District; and Rear Admiral Richard H. Laning, Medical Corps, First Naval District, represented the armed forces at the ceremonies. The Army trainees were commissioned First Lieutenants, and the Navy trainees Lieutenants (j.g.).

Blumgart Speaks

Lieutenant Colonel Herman Blumgart, of the Army Medical Corps, who is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard, gave the chief address, entitled "The Doctor as a Medical Officer in the Army and Navy." Dean Sidney Burwell and members of the Faculty, along with representatives of the Army and Navy, were present.

The 131 men who received M.D.'s were from 31 states, China, and Peru. Forty-one were from New England states. They came to Harvard from 58 colleges. Twenty-five of the 131 men graduated with honors. In addition, Jack P. Shillingford, of Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. England, and John M. Stowers of London, England, who studied at Harvard under special Rockefeller Foundation grants, completed their studies with the award of Rockefeller certificates.

In a brief, informal ceremony at the Medical School on Wednesday afternoon. Shillingford was awarded the Henry Asbury Christian Prize, the outstanding senior prize which is given annually.