School of Medicine (MED)

Medicine

Founded in 1880, St. Mary's Hospital at Miskatonic University is now a world-renowned medical college with a wide variety of classes and career paths offered in general medicine, nursing, biomedical research, surgery, and pharmaceuticals. Dedicated to teaching the science and art of healing, and to the health of the public, St. Mary's strives to give exceptional intellectual, professional, and personal opportunities to its students, residents, and practicing faculty. We at St. Mary's place a great emphasis on excellence, integrity, collegiality, discipline, tradition, and a passion for serving others in need, as well as our community as a whole. It is our inflexible commitment to this standard that continues to make Miskatonic Medical one of the most prestigious institutions of its kind.

Emergency Medicine (chapter):
The Chapter Department of Emergency Medicine is one of the most important here at St. Mary's--when an accident or other urgent situation occurs, it is the D.E.M.'s duty to be the first to bring relief and aid to the victims. In Emergency Medicine, students learn the skills needed to respond quickly and precisely in a crisis, and how to control themselves and their environment in a time of distress. The Department of Emergency Medicine houses the courses required for First Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians, Paramedics, Medics, Field Surgeons, and Emergency Room doctors and nurses.

Surgery (chapter):
The Surgery Chapter Department at St. Mary's is home to some of the most diligent, eager, and industrious students at Miskatonic University. The academic scale of the Surgery Department is exceptionally diverse, offering courses from theater-style operation classrooms and lectures, to hands-on training in our surgical facility; The department offers all manner of specialty study from our distinguished professors, including Cardiothoracic, Thoracic, Colorectal, Otorhinolaryngology, Paediatric and Neonatal, Ophthalmology, Oromaxillofacial and Reconstructive, Orthopedic, Urilogical, and more.
(submitted: Dr. Penelope Dreadful)

Department Staff

  • Dr. Penelope Dreadful, Dlrector ot Medicine. She is a certified medical surgeon at St. Mary's which is home to Miskatonic University's School of Medicine.

Neurology:

The Neurology Department is a specialization department at Miskatonic Medical, often applied in conjunction with surgical studies. In the Neurology Department, students research and examine the parts of the brain and its functions in various states. Sleep studies, addiction studies, neurophysiology, neuropathy, abnormal psychology, mortuary examination, and all other manners of brain analysis can be found being taught in the Neurology Department. Many particularly inquisitive medical students find their niche here in the tedious experimentation and exploration of man's last great Unknown, striving alongside our impetuous, ardently devoted physicians in the Neurology Department.
(submitted: Dr. Penelope Dreadful)

  • Classes available: Advanced Theories on Brain Death 660-1,2,3)

Nursing

Nursing is an old skill, but a recent profession. Ancient records from medieval China, India, Greece and Rome suggest nursing was practiced extensively. In later times nursing was primarily seen as a Christian duty and practiced largely by monastic orders. The field was revolutionized in 1860 when Florence Nightingale (at the request of the Secretary of War) organized and led a band of nurses for the British in the Crimean War. Upon her return to England she founded a training school with a system that required a trained matron with undisputed authority over all the nursing staff, a strong course of body theoretical and practical training, and a home attached to the hospital for moral and spiritual training. This system is largely in use today, and because of her efforts nursing has expanded and become professionally recognized.

Nursing schools have only existed in the U.S. since 1870, and the Registered Nurse (RN) requirements were only established (on a state-by-state basis) starting in 1903. Specialties in nursing include general nursing, sick children, fevers and infectious diseases, and mental health. Nursing is a respectable job, and is seen as a good profession for women (there are currently no male students at M.U.). Nurses spend more time with patients than doctors, and do most of the routine health care required during a convalescence. Their training builds a methodical outlook with an attention to detail, and a good RN with a few years' experience is on par with a general practitioner for most matters.

Although Dr. Lloyd Johnston is the official head of the department' he has litHe contact with the student body, and most students prefer to see the head nurse for any questions or problems. The department provides a baccalaureate degree within four years, and has an RN extended program for those seeking to continue in the field. The Nursing program provides training similar to that received by pre-med students, but neglects most of the surgery and pharmacy aspects that aspiring doctors receive. Students must take background courses in chemistry, biology, and health during their first two years, in addition to elective courses within the other Schools. The third year consists almost entirely of Nursing courses, followed by a final year of clinical nursing experience (similar to an internship) at St. Mary's. Nurses wishing to become RN's may take the extended program for an additional year.
 

  • Lillian Wald (1867-1940), U.S. sociologist, nurse, and social worker who founded the concept of school nursing and promoted the establishment of rural and children's health.
  • Mary Adelaide Nutting (1858-1948), the first nurse appointed to a university professorship, at Columbia University in 1906. After her retirement in 1925, she was appointed Professor Emeritus of Nursing Education.

Physical Education

Viewed as important to the defense of the nation since the wars of the Greek city-states, physical education (particularly team sports) is also thought by most to impart valuable moral lessons that build the characters of young men and women.

Miskatonic's Physical Education Department does not offer a major, but provides a variety of enjoyable classes for one quarter or half a credit, to encourage the physical fitness of the student body. Donald Kanum is the department head. M.U. hires many instructors for one- or two- year periods to handle the classes, which include programs in gymnastics, team sports, boxing, and a novel class in yoga (the only one with academic standing in New England). The goal of yoga is union, to free the mind from attachment to the senses and to bring the student to a state of oneness or self harmony. Yoga courses are popular relievers of stress, especially among philosophy and religion majors. The Board of Deans consider the sport of wrestling to be inappropriate and unseemly for University students.
 

  • Babe Ruth (1895-1948), pitcher and batsman for the Boston Red Sox, sold to the New York Yankees in 1920 for the princely sum of $125,000, who became known as the "Sultan of Swat."
  • Gertrude Ederle (1906-) in 1926 became the first woman to swim the English Channel, when she also broke the existing men's record.  Jack Dempsey (1895-1983) was heavyweight boxing champion of the world from l9l9 to 1926.
Department Staff
  • Mr. DONALD (siff) KANUM, age 48, Coach and Head of P.E. An optimistic and enthusiastic man, undaunted by losing games so long as his teams play hard and play clean.

Class Schedules

Classes at Miskatonic are organized as either as one hour and twenty minute sessions on each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or as two hour sessions on each Tuesday and Thursday. Both schemes result in four hours of instruction per class per week. If a student can schedule every class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he has five unscheduled days per week, and this is thought by many Miskies (members of the University community) to be a significant benefit.
  The classes themselves are given numbers as well as names. These numbers serve as informal rankings according to difficulty and esotericism. Class size gets small as class topics become more specialized. Keepers can easily make up any courses desired. (Indeed, if the Keeper can think of it, some professor at Miskatonic probably offers it.) Students (and thus Keepers) generally refer to their classes by general number, for example, "I'm late for my English 301 class", thus sparing the listener any need to understand the meaning of the class title, or what the enrollee hopes to achieve in it.

01-99 LEVEL
These courses are remedial. There are few of these classes during the 1920's, typically only English, a Romance language, high school level mathematics, and perhaps an introduction to a science. After World War 11, such classes become more common. These classes cost tuition money, just as any other class does, but they confer no academic credit.

100-LEVEL
Typically taken by freshmen or by people interested in a topic but majoring in something else. Some examples are English Composition 101, Elementary Mathematics 103, or Biology 101. Most majors require a variety of 100-level classes in disparate topics in order to fulfill the ideal of a well rounded education. For very common classes such as basic Biology lectures, the lecture class may number a hundred   or more people, while the corresponding lab sections may be a fifth as large. The professor lectures, and his graduate assistants run the labs. When they can, most professors will approach teaching such a class like a factory assembly line, with an unvarying written lesson plan and regular tests that haven't changed in twenty years. As the semester advances, a 100 level class that falls much below twenty students is in danger of being merged with another class at a different time and perhaps on a different day.

200-LEVEL

For students interested in the topic, or required in that major, for example Russian Folklore 220, Euclidian Geometry 202, or Basic Anatomy 203. Essentially sophomore level, so that although anyone is allowed to join, the workload is higher than for a 100-level class, and the topics are somewhat less general. Because these classes are more difficult, they are smaller in size and professors can begin to spend time with individual students.

300-LEVEL

These and 400-level classes often require one or more prerequisite classes within the department, to establish the student's credentials as a scholar and to make sure that foolish freshmen do not consume valuable class space. More advanced topics might be Babylonian Literature 302, Non-Euclidian Geometry 304, or Human Dissection 359.

400-LEVEL

At this rarified level, classes are typically small, attended by some mix of juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Topics are totally dependent on what a professor decides to teach, and can be very specific, such as Cuneiform Variations in Aleut Decorative Bordas (Anthro 429), Architectural Similes in the Later Speeches of Samuel Smiles (English 404), Modern Forensic Pathology (Mea 410), and so on. Since the class size is small (usually fewer than ten students), professors may choose to evaluate each student personally before allowing him to take the class, to make sure each student has enough background to be able to contribute to the class.

500- AND 600-LEVEL

These are for graduate students, but intelligent seniors may petition to join, and are usually accepted on the basis of their G.P.A.'s in the department. Some of the 600-level classes are very small seminars, involving a specialty of the professor's, or perhaps amounting to cooperative research on a particular problem. Most 600-level classes are independent study, involving only one student and a guiding professor. Depending on the major, one or two papers may be required per semester, but reading, research, and conferences between student and teacher may be intense.

AUDITORS

By arrangement with the professor, intelligent outsiders may be able to sit in on a certain class without registering with the University. The professor may decide to require papers and class discussion from an auditor, but rarely mid-term or final exams. The University prefers that all such transactions be formalized, and officially charges half of the class's regular tuition for an audited class. Paid audited classes are shown on the scholar's transcript, but add no credit hours. Informal arrangements with a professor do not appear on the scholar's transcript. An auditor could later take the course for credit, but not from the same professor.

Core Curriculum

Every Miskatonic student must take certain classes. These are few, and talented students can opt to get one or more of them waived by passing tests offered at the beginning of each semester. The classes are English Composition, Survey of Mathematics, and American History. In addition, all students must take either History and Appreciation of Art or Introduction to Melody, Rhythm, and Orchestration, or register for private instruction by a recognized art or music instructor.
  Since these required courses must be taken by the great majority of all entering students, the respective departments are allowed many instructors and huge numbers of students without discussion. Required courses represent a departmental sinecure, and the departments involved remain powerhouses in M.U. academic politics, because they command so much manpower and resources.
  Beyond the infamous required courses, the different schools within the University have additional requirements. For example, in Language, Literature, and the Arts, all majors must take at least two years of a foreign language (Latin and ancient languages are acceptable), usually French. The School of Science requires one year of either German or French, and at least two science courses in subjects outside the major department. Law and Business, showing true New England spirit, require all students to participate for at least one season in a club sport or a varsity team (and special attention is meted out to wise students who choose hockey, the law professors' consensus favorite). Pre-med students must serve at least one semester in the night shift of the hospital as an orderly or nurse's assistant before they can graduate.

Courseload and Workload
 Students are expected to be enrolled on a full-time basis, taking four classes each semester or three classes and a music lesson or club sport. Special permission is needed to take five courses. So a student's of ficial class workload is a mere sixteen hours of lectures each week. Add in twice that for homework and study time, and even a diligent freshman or sophomore is busy less than eight hours a day and still gets Saturday and Sundays off. For upperclassmen in technical subjects the study load increasesslightly, but this is balanced by the opposite being true for LLA upperclassmen.

M.U. excerpts © 1995 by Sandy Antunes and Chaosium. Inc.
Miskatonic University original manuscript © 1994 by Sandy Antunes; all rights reserved. Additional material © 1995 by Chaosium Inc.; all rights reserved.

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