Health Service Successful

The first year of Dartmouth's health service program has been highly successful, it is indicated by the figures released early in September by Dean Lloyd K. Neidlinger '23, chairman of the Council on Student Health.

A total of 9,366 out-patient visits, or approximately 50 a day, were made to Dick's House by Dartmouth undergraduates during the college year 1936-37. This record is in sharp contrast to the average of ten students a day who visited the infirmary during the college year 1935-36, when students were charged for each visit.

Of 1,303 patients admitted to Dick's House for a day or more, 330 were discharged as well, 839 as improved, and 104 as convalescent, while only 21 were discharged as unimproved. Eight patients were not treated, and only one patient died during the year.

The total number of days of service was 6,529, with the average length of a patient's stay 5.10 days. The largest number of patients in any one day was 52, while the longest stay of any patient was 92 days. Of the students admitted to Dick's House, 1,046 were medical cases and 257 surgical cases. Ninety-seven operations were performed during the year, 33 of them appendectomies.

The Dartmouth College Health Service, inaugurated last fall, provides free medical and surgical treatment for all undergraduates and for students enrolled in the regular courses of the associated schools. It provides not only for the care of the sick but also for health education, sanitary control, and the prevention of sickness. Under the health service it is hoped to educate the student to recognize the need for medical attention and to seek it promptly. Figures for the first year indicate that students and the medical staff have cooperated fully toward the success of the program.