THE VANISHING LESION: A NEW PROBLEM IN TEACHING

Methods in teaching are not entirely beyond the influence of fashion. Changes occur in various courses that indicate the emphasis of a particular period. Class exercises give way to section teaching, with the advantage that students come in more intimate contact with both instructor and patient. Not long ago the didactic lecture seemed to be in peril of extinction. The teaching of syphilis has followed the general plan more or less closely. However, we still have a few didactic lectures and clinical exercises for the class; but the bulk of instruction is with small sections at the hospital.

Recently a new condition is confronting us: the vanishing lesions. The teacher of clinical syphilis must regard this changing condition with real apprehension. One no longer sees in the clinic the array of active lesions, both early and late, that were formerly available for teaching purposes. This condition is due largely to