State's Medical Schools to Be Linked by TV

              10-B Saturday, July 27, 1974 THE SHREVEPORT TIMES
Dr. Allen Copping of New Orleans, chancellor of the
Louisiana State University Medical Center, talks
about his plans for the future of Louisiana State
University Medical School in Shreveport on a visit
here Friday. (Times Photo by Gerald McCarty)
State's Medical Schools to Be Linked by TV
By Elaine King
Of The Times Staff
Linking state medical
school complexes in
Shreveport and New Orleans
with a closed-circuit
television system is being
planned, Dr. Allen Copping,
new chancellor of the
Louisiana State University
Medical Center said here
Friday.
By linking the two medical
schools, he said, students will
be able to take advantage of
programs at both medical
centers — Louisiana State
University Medical School in
Shreveport-Confederate
Memorial Medical Center and
its New Orleans counterpart,
the LSU Medical School in
New Orleans and Charity
Hospital.
Implementation of the
microwave link between
Shreveport and New Orleans
has not yet been started, Dr.
Copping said.
Dr. Copping, who became
chancellor July 13, had
visited Shreveport last week
and toured the medical school
under construction here ad-jacent
to CMMC.
The physical plant, not yet
completed, has a tremendous
potential, Dr. Copping said. It
will be adequate to "handle
the estimated class of 96" and
beyond that can probably
house auxiliary programs
connected with medicine, he
predicted.
The medical complex, he
said, is "probably going to be
the biggest industry in
Shreveport."
The medical school's
physical facility, he said, is
one of the finest in the nation
and far superior to the
facility at the New Orleans
medical school.
He emphasized, however,
that the medical school here
can be only as good as its
staff, but that the potential in
that area is great.
As coordinator of the six
professional schools that com-pose
the LSU Medical Center,
Dr. Copping said he will work
to fit all the state health
schools into a consolidated
unit, without taking away the
creativity and individuality of
the schools.
Competitiveness between
the schools will be en-couraged,
Dr. Copping said.
By linking the two medical
schools, he said, students will
not be restricted to the
programs at their school, but
also can draw upon learning
resources available at the
other school.
formation can be supplied
back and forth between the
schools via the closed-circuit
channels, he said. The two
schools need creativity in
their programs and should
not be the same, he added.
Procedures and lectures
could even be taped at one
school to show later at the
other one.
The system could also be
instrumental in a continuing
education program for
private physicians, he noted.
Dr. Copping said he
believes the private medical
community in Shreveport
should — and has — suppor-ted
the medical school here.
He said he wants to be cog-nizant
of the Shreveport
medical community's wishes
concerning- the medical
school.
The medical school's
primary objective, he said, is
to turn out qualified medical
personnel.
Dr. Copping said he is also
interested in seeing that the
center serves the needs of the
people in the region and the
state. The immediate goal, he
said, is primary care, which
he defined as emphasis on
family medicine.
Dr. Copping, whose duties
also include budget coor-dination,
said the past
legislature was very
cooperative and had a "very
definite ear" toward the
needs of the medical center.
To open the medical school
in Shreveport, he said, more
money will be required. The
need can be justified to the
legislature, he said.