It will aid us in discussing this topic to review briefly the quantitative requirements now exacted :
1. In accordance with statutory provision.
2. By individual medical schools.
In the state of New York a preliminary general education equivalent to graduation from a four-year high-school course after a completed eight-year elementary course is prescribed by statute as the minimum standard for license to practice medicine. Quantitatively this standard approximates that demanded in Continental Europe. Qualitatively it leaves much to be desired. The defects are being remedied, as I shall show later.
New Hampshire, Ohio and Vermont have similar requirements, but they are not as rigidly enforced. Wisconsin demands the equivalent of admission to the junior year of an accredited high school. Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania prescribe a "common school education," Louisiana "a fair primary education," Illinois and Iowa less than one year of high-school work Maine and Virginia