Dr. William W. Frye, vice-president of Louisiana State University and dean of the School of Medicine, has been selected to direct a worldwide study of American aid programs in the fields of medical education, research and development in foreign countries.
The evaluation effort is sponsored jointly by Association of American Medical Colleges and the Agency for International Development, a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of State. Contract documents for the
study have been received and executed and the survey, which will lead the LSU medical dean to more than 50 nations of the world, will begin immediately.
Dr. Frye has been granted a six-month sabbatical leave of absence by the LSU Board of Supervisors to organize and supervise the world-wide effort, headquarters for which will be in Chicago. i DR. HULL ACTING DEAN
During Dr. Frye's absence, Dr. Edgar Hull, professor of medicine, associate dean of the School of Medicine, and one of the original members of the LSU medical faculty, will serve as acting dean of the School of Medicine, he said.
Although the study will be one of overall scope, Dr. Frye pointed out, specific attention will be devoted to certain problems which AID and its predecessor agencies have found to be major factors in the upgrading of foreign medical education, research and service.
He listed them as follows:
1. The training of medical auxiliaries, with particular reference to education of the physician in relation to his role as the leader of a health team.
2. The desire of most developing countries for highly specialized Western-type medicine and medical education.
3. The difficulty in providing health services in rural areas.
4. The problems posed by difficulty in communication.
5. The grave problems facing most developing countries in financing medical education and health services.
6. The shortage of adequately qualified premedical students.
7. The emigration of physicians from developing countries to advanced countries.
DATA FOR A.I.D. "This study, within the general context of the seven points previously mentioned, will provide AID with data, guidelines and judgments essential to its further planning," Dr. Frye pointed out.
"In this study, the AAMC will identify and clarify basic issues related to the role of American medicine, American medical schools, the AAMC and other agencies, private and governmental, in the advancement of medical education in the developing countries." PHOTO: DR. WILLIAM W. FRYE To direct aid study.
