Medical and education combination

The Value of the Medical in an Education

(The Madison pioneers started their institution planning to include a sanitarium as part of their campus as Ellen White had recommended, something they could not do in their Michigan school. One of their followers in an extension unit expressed the role of the medical in Christian education.)

By John R. Peters, M.D.

Medical Director, Pewee Valley Sanitarium and Hospital

A unit of Madison

Pewee Valley, Kentucky

There is much which might be said on this topic but the most powerful argument we have in favor of combining our sanitarium and schools is, without doubt, this example of our Lord, Who, when He was upon the earth, went about healing, teaching and preaching. We are ever committed to mortals. Of course, we recognize that when we are treating the sick, we are also dealing with the mind.

Yet, beyond all this, there is another significance--that of training young minds, not only in an educational way but to most of life's problems. Our sanitariums would be much better off financially without operating schools in connection with them, and it is much easier to hire mature help than to trouble ourselves with immature student help. By that method we would be following the line of least resistance, but we have a greater, a far more important mission than merely caring for the sick and afflicted in a physical sense.

We must realize that we are dealing with souls, and there are many young people who could not have the privilege of a Christian education if they were not afforded the opportunity of earning it by their own efforts in just such an institution as this. And, strange as it may seem, these same students who bring us many perplexing problems prove to be a real blessing to us. Their loyalty, devotion, and gratitude richly repay us for our feeble efforts on their behalf. And the sanitarium proves of real benefit to the young people in an educational way; in fact, students trained in a cooperative institution such as we have at Pewee Valley have a great advantage over those trained in an ordinary school. They come to us untrained, immature, and inexperienced in the ways of life, but they leave us many times well equipped to take up life’s duties and become an asset to the community in which they locate.

The instruction given us to establish school and sanitarium together is very definite. If we follow such instruction with the right spirit and go forward trusting in the Lord, success will attend our endeavors.

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In this 1937 photo of Pewee Valley students and staff,

Dr. John Peter stands at the left.