[A documental investigation of Hakodate Medical School from records of a student]

At Hakodate National General Hospital, a medical course (Hakodate Medical School) existed from 1872 to 1874 with governmental support, which was guided and lectured by Dr. Stuart Erdridge from Philadelphia. From many records concerning this course written by a student who attended during this period, real features of this course were clarified. Dr. S. Erdridge gave lectures in English about the fundamental as well as clinical aspects of medicine, including surgery, and gave guidance on clinical practise and treatments. These lectures were translated into Japanese simultaneously by an interpreter for the convenience of students writing in Japanese in their notebooks. His lectures were on a high level for that time, so later they were published in 3 volumes by the government (Kaitakushi). The nine of those 20 students who were supported by government expense were obligated to do medical services in Hokkaido for 5 years afterward. At the end of the course, students who took the course were engaged for 50 days in medical service which included a round trip for vaccination of small pox to children living near the Hakodate area and 2558 children were vaccinated. From the diary of this trip, the schedule and mode of vaccination at that time were clarified. The student who wrote this diary had to retire from this course at the last period, due to the death of his father and familial duties. However, the certificate for medical occupation was issued to him by Dr. S. Erdridge in 1886 for governmental necessity.