There was no formal
examination. The Utter Barrister spent at least three more years
performing exercises and assisting in directing the studies of the
younger men. After this time, he could plead in the general courts
at Westminster, but usually carried on law work in the offices of
other men and prepared cases for them. Participating in moots
(practice courts) was an important part of their education.
Lectures on statutes and their histories were given by Readers
Physicians were licensed by universities, by the local bishop, or
in London, by the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Most were
university graduates, and because of the expense of the education,
from well-to-do families. For the B.A., they emphasized Greek. For
the M.A., they studied the works of Greek physicians Claudius
Galen and Hippocrates, and perhaps some medieval authorities.
After the M.A., they listened to lectures by the Regius Professor
of Medicine and saw a few dissections. Three years of study gave
them a M.B., and four more years beyond this the M.D. degree. A
physician's examination of a patient cost 10s. and included asking
him about his symptoms and feelings of pain, looking at this eyes,
looking at his body for spots indicative of certain diseases,
guessing whether he had a fever, feeling his pulse, and examining
urine and stools, though there were no laboratory tests. Smallpox
was quickly recognized.
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