https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35320 2026-04-05T08:27:19Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35475 Title: The study of medical history Abstract: If you look at a large painting only a few feet away from it, you will only see a small - perhaps insignificant - detail of it; if you view it at a distance of some yards, your eyes will absorb a larger, more meaningful area; and the more you recede from it the more you can perceive of the extent of the picture until your field of vision will encompass the whole scene. In the end, therefore, you will have reached a point where the small detail which you saw at a short distance will merge in a wider context and acquire adequate significance since an item can only be appreciated when viewed in relation to the whole pattern in which it occurs. The study of the history of medicine may be likened to this perceptive process. Looking at a 1 arge canvas only a few feet away corresponds to the 'present' which is only a minute part of the long con tin uum of time. Receding from the painting with consequent enlargement of your vista of the picture corresponds to your study of our medical past by which the present acquires meaning as a phase in a long process of development that has been unfolding over the centuries. Thus the study of medical history broadens, for the physician, his concept of his art and science and gives him a heightened awareness of himself and his work in relation to the events of the past and of his own time. If, therefore, the practice of medicine is to have any meaning to the student and to the practitioner, apart from its technical aspects and its material rewards, it is imperative that its history be taught to the undergraduate and be cultivated by him after he leaves the university. 1975-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35458 Title: Some remarks on tertiary education today Abstract: This is my first opportunity to publish, in Malta, some of my views about tertiary education today, and I welcome the fact that it is the Students' Representative Council which has provided me with this chance. I have of course had other opportunities for making my views known in Malta, and I am therefore not unaware of what is expected of me at a time at which many institutions of the country, including those of tertiary education, are in a stage of dynamic development. Change is not a value in itself, but more often than not, changes are needed in order to fashion institutions in such a way that they serve the people for whom they were created. Malta is going through such a period of change, and will - so one hopes - in the process find its identity not only as a bridge between cultures, but also as a model of the democratic dynamics of an open society. To this end, the University and the other institutions of tertiary education have an important role to play. 1975-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35444 Title: Research in Malta Abstract: The history of material progress is almost synonymous with the history of research. Though the accidental has played its part in the development of the various civilizations, much has been the result of painstaking study, reflection and experiment, whether by humble artisans or by university professors. The highly advanced technological societies of the West owe their prominence to the encouragement they have given to the research worker, whilst the endless technological experimentation chronicled so admirably by Joseph Needham was responsible for the richness and strength of China in ancient and medieval times. 1975-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/35443 Title: Adult education : the role of R. U. M. Abstract: Universities have become notorious in several countries for developing into specialized centres of learning which are unrelated to the most pressing needs of the societies which support them. It is perhaps ironic that contemporary affluent societies, characterized by so many luxuries which earlier societies could not afford, are reluctant to subsidize the existence of 'ivory towers'. Contemporary criticisms are aimed at the quality of much research carried out in universities in terms of its relevance to society. Universities are also criticized especially by radicals for failing to promote what they regard as 'necessary' changes in the social structure. Instead, like many other traditional institutions, universities tend to reflect the existing power distribution of their society and to promote its continuity. As a result universities are said to be largely manned by elites - especially those constituting the traditional professions and the middle class 'intellectuals'. 1975-01-01T00:00:00Z