BU School of Medicine Building
Completed in 1870 for the New England Female Medical College, this building housed Boston University’s School of Medicine until 1969, when it was replaced by the Instructional (L) Building in use today. Image from School of Medicine 4th Annual Announcement, 1876.
Cost of Medical School for William Watkins
In 1873, there was a one-time matriculation fee of $5 (the equivalent of almost $125 today), as well as a $10 fee for Practical Anatomy (presumably to cover anatomical specimens and tools).
Additionally, students could pay $100 for the year (roughly $2,500 today), or pay in advance for all three years of the program at the significantly discounted price of $160 (close to $4,000 today).
There is no record of what option William Watkins chose: he would obviously have seen the financial benefit of paying the total cost in advance, but whether or not he had an additional $60 (equivalent to almost $1,500 today) in November of 1873 is unknown.
Courses in Watkins' MD Program (then three years)
- Anatomy
- Physiology
- Basic chemistry
- Botany (probably herbal and botanically based medicines)
- Anatomy
- Medical chemistry
- Materia medica*
- Institutes of Medicine and clinical medicine
- Pathology
- Surgery
- Ophthalmology/otolaryngology
- Materia medica*
- Institutes of Homeopathy and Practice
- Specialized clinical medicine and surgery
- Obstetrics
- Diseases of women and children
- Medical jurisprudence and ethics
Course listing from First Annual Announcement, 1873