University of Virginia Library

Henry E. Howell

'Medical Profession Is Going To Seed'

By MICHELE FAISON

"Only the highest achiever
has a chance of being admitted
to medical school in Virginia,"
Lt. Gov. Henry E. Howell told
a medical school audience
yesterday.

Speaking on "Health Care
Delivery in the Commonwealth
of Virginia," Mr. Howell
delivered the Medical School's
annual Annie G. Lipscomb
Lecture in McLeod Hall.

Mr. Howell, an announced
Independent candidate in the
1973 Virginia gubernatorial
race, said that a problem exists
in the education of persons
hoping to become physicians.

"The number of medical
students is rising while the
number of professors for them
is falling," Mr. Howell said.

He added that many
persons with potential are not
admitted to medical school
because poor primary and
secondary school education
does not prepare them for the
college success necessary for
admission to medical school.

Mr. Howell stressed the
importance of seeking out
prospective medical students in
remote areas of the state with a
poor physician-patient ratio
in the hope that once trained,
the doctors would return to
their home areas.

This would make it more
difficult for doctors to
"become totally involved with
their peers, buying yachts,
medical buildings and stock for
status," said Mr. Howell.
"They aren't being doctors
anymore," he added.

Mr. Howell recommended
that physicians return to their
hometowns as general
practitioners, instead of
specializing, and become
involved with their
communities, "instead of their
investments."

He added, "General practice
is the place where the medical
profession has gone to seed."

Mr. Howell said physicians
tend to congregate in some
areas more than others. He
commented that the
Shenandoah Valley area has
more distribution of physicians
than the Hampton Roads area.

Advocating increased use of
preventative medicine, Mr.
Howell said a balance between
"vertical and horizontal" care
should be maintained.
"Vertical," or out-patient care,
should be used, but when
"horizontal," or bed care,
becomes necessary, it should
be available.

Ideal medical conditions
may exist in Virginia by 1990,
Mr. Howell said, by keeping
the physicians the state trains
within the state, while
maintaining "educational
challenge," and the
"excitement of delivering
primary medical care."

"The fact that Henry
Howell was invited to speak
manifests the concern of future
doctors to become involved,"
Mr. Howell said of his first
invitation to speak at the
University, where he took his
law degree.

In closing, Mr. Howell said
he hopes "a scholastic trade
barrier" will never rise between
Virginia colleges and those in
other states.

"Virginia would suffer from
this. The national student body
broadens the outlook of the
student–it's good for Virginia
and the nation," he said.

The Lipscomb lectures
were begun in honor of Miss
Lipscomb, a former medical
school secretary.

C/D Mike Powell

Lt. Gov. Henry Howell