|
 In the early years, there were no medical residents at Pennsylvania
Hospital. Physicians and surgeons would sometimes be assisted
by their own private medical students and apothecaries or apprentices
were sometimes indentured to the hospital, but there was no formal
training program established for physicians.
In 1773, it was decided to receive medical apprentices into
the hospital, and a "European scholar-turned-Philadelphia-tavern
owner" (Jacob Ehrenzeller, Sr.) apprenticed his son to Pennsylvania
Hospital on June 1, 1773. Jacob Jr. was 16 years of age, and
his indentureship had the following stipulations: he was forbidden
to fornicate, play at cards, buy or sell goods or run away. This
particular agreement was similar to the ones made with former
apothecaries or apprentices, but with an important difference.
The hospital's Board of Manager's minutes from June 26, 1773
records this historic precedent:
Jacob Ehrenzeller, Jr., Indenture to serve five years and
three months being executed on the 1st of the last month in
the presence of his father and Samuel Coates was now produced
and read and deposited with other papers by the clerk, the
Terms agreed on with his Father, besides what is generally
expressed in the Indenture are as follows: viz. That he shall
have leave at his own or his Father's expense to attend the
lectures of the Medical Professors out of the Hospital during
the two last years of his apprenticeship; to attend the Surgical
Operations and Lectures in the Hospital free of any expense;
and that the Apothecary for the time being shall duly instruct
him in Physic and Surgery.
Ehrenzeller's internship at the hospital created a first for
the colonies, combining clinical training at Pennsylvania Hospital
with a medical school education at the College of Philadelphia
(later known as the University of Pennsylvania). Unfortunately,
the Revolutionary War brought difficulties for the hospital and
the College of Philadelphia, and the latter had to temporarily
close during the conflict. Jacob Ehrenzeller was eventually awarded
a certificate of medical competency from Pennsylvania Hospital,
but was unable to obtain a formal degree in medicine from the
College. He served five years, but no successor to his position
was appointed until William Gardner was indentured to the Hospital
in 1786.
After that point, there was a regular succession of apprentices
until 1824; many took medical classes at the University of Pennsylvania
while serving the hospital, and some received their degree of
medicine before the completion of their indenture. In 1824 the
Board of Managers decided do away with the "apprentice arrangement," and
to limit residencies to those who had already received their
M.D. degrees. This practice has continued with the hospital to
this day, as well as the tradition of inscribing the names of
our resident physicians -- now both male and female -- on brass
plaques that are displayed on the first floor of the hospital.
Ehrenzeller's certificate enabled him to become an assistant
surgeon for the American Army during the Revolutionary War. At
the end of the war, he left the army and practiced medicine in
Goshen and West Chester, small towns outside of Philadelphia.
Ehrenzeller was not only the nation's first intern, but one of
the few 19th century "village physicians" able to support
his family through the practice of medicine exclusively -- without
having to resort to a second occupation.
Information regarding Dr. Jacob Ehrenzeller, Jr. was gleaned
from the essay, "Jacob Ehrenzeller, 1757-1838," by
Dorothy I. Lansing, M.D., Section on Medical History, College
of Physicians of Philadelphia (1976).
Return
to 1751 - 1800
|
 |
