Medical Education System Outmoded, Says Dr. Frye

              6-A Wednesday, Sept. 3, 1969 THE SHREVEPORT TIMES
Medical Society Hears Talk
Medical Education System
Outmoded, Says Dr. Frye
By MARGARET MARTIN
Times Medical Writer
The present system of medical
education has become outmoded.
Dr. William W. Frye of the
Louisiana State University Medi-cal
Center in New Orleans, said
last night.
Di. Frye, who is retiring as
chancellor of the medical center,
spoke to the Shreveport Medical
Society at Don's Seafood Res-taurant.
Last night's meeting honored
the 32 members of the LSU
Medical School at Shreveport.
The session was dedicated to
medical education.
Discussing the 1911 Abraham
Flexner report which had a great
influence on medical schools of
that time, Dr. Frye added
"today, almost 60 years following
the Flexner report, our present
system of medical education
which was applauded for so
many years has become outmod-ed.
"Medical educators and others
have issued calls for radical
change to adapt medical educa-tion
to the needs of a new and
different time."
Public Now Concerned
Dr. Frye pointed out that
"when Flexner conducted his
inquiry into medical education,
the public was little concerned.
Now as we have witnessed over
the past few years, the public
has become deeply concerned.
Medical research has become a
common term to the layman.
Health legislation has been a top
priority with our federal govern-ment
over the past four or five
years."
The educator told the physi-cians
that members of the
profession must "remain ever
conscious of the social, scientific,
economic and political changes
that are occuring and maintain
at all times respect of the people
we serve."
He said that the profession is
obligated to turn to medical
education for development of
men and women "'earned and
skilled" in recognizing these
various factors as they relate fo
medicine and medical care."
And, many of the factors
influencing health care today are
not medical per se, said the
doctor.
The ultimate success of pro-grams
of medical education,
"depends upon the decree to
which students develop lasting
habits of keen observation, ra-tional
t h o u g h t , enthusiastic
study, judicious action and re-spect
for those values of personal
dignity, honesty, resourcefulness
and courage, without which any
learning is sterile."
". . . the challenge to medical
education is clear — it is a
summons to the intelligent mobi-lization
of the knowledge and
talents necessary for a fuller
understanding of health and
disease," added Dr. Fr, e.
The chancellor lauded the
physicians, businessmen, laymen
and legislators of Shreveport for
their "vision and support" in
getting the local medical school
established.
Dr. Frye denounced as disas-trous
and dangerous formation of
government commissions to es-tablish
policies for transplant
procedures.
Pointing out that in these
transplants "spectacular advanc-es
have stimulated unusual
interest" among the public. Dr.
Frye said there have been
suggestions that "government
commissions be appointed to
decide whether or not a patient
should be operated upon and
whether certain p r o c e d u r e s
should be regarded as experi-mental
on human beings."
"This is indeed a dangerous
proposal, and hopefully, wise
heads in our government and in
Congress will realize that the
medical profession is not only
socially conscious of the prob-lems
involved, but is scientifically
capable and willing to handle
these problems and still continue
its advance in scientific investi-gation."
he added. "It would be
disastrous if the government or
other agencies were to take over
the policy making of the medical
profession. This must not hap-pen."
The medical educator pointed
out that costs of medical care
"are rising to staggering propor-tions,
with "vastly complex
therapies and life saving proce-dures
driving the costs still
higher."
He said that organ transplants,
such as heart, lung, liver "even
though still in the experimental
stage, are estimated to cost from
$25,000 to $75,000 per patient."
Urges More Services
Members of the health industry
must emerge from a "sheltered
life" of the past and move to-ward
the establishment of better
medical care services, especially
among the poor, said Dr. Frye.
He said that health industries
in the past "have stood some-what
outside the political and
social turmoils of suceeding
generations," and "now we find
ourselves in a great social
turmoil."
The doctor said that "poverty
is the chief illness of our society,
and until our society heals itself
there can be no health for the
poor."
He told the members of the
society that "science and medi-cine
in particular, have a
role in the alleviation of social
ills than we as physicians, and
other health professionals have
been willing to admit or face up
to."
Outlining medical history
since 1850, Dr. Frye added,
"During the past three decades,
our entire health and medical
care system has been going
through a major evolution. Ac-tually,
one may say that due to
the scientific and knowledge
explosion, we have experienced a
revolution in the health profes-sions."