University of Virginia Library

University Medical School
Reevaluates Training Plan

With few exceptions, American
medical schools have been training
doctors much the same way for the
past 60 years - two years of basic
science courses, then two years of
clinically-oriented studies, varying a
little from school to school.

Today, however, an ever accelerating
technology is constantly
creating new knowledge, much of it
medically oriented, and new medical
problems, as in the dangers of
DDT or some food additives. At the
same time, the population explosion
and the 20th century concept
of medical care as a right rather
than a privilege call for more health
manpower.

All these factors suggest the
need for changing medical education
to insure the most relevant
education for the largest possible
number of physicians at the fastest
reasonable rate.

In the face of changes such as
these, the University School of
Medicine, which screened some
1,300 applicants for this year's
entering class of 86, has been taking
a good look at its training program.

Among those looking is Dr.
Ralph W. Ingersoll, new assistant
dean of the School of Medicine and
associate professor in the University's
School of Education.

"A big question facing medical
educators is 'should there be more
than one path through medical
school?"' Dr. Ingersoll says.

Along the way there are other
types of questions to be explored:
Who should come to medical
school? Must medical school last
four years for everybody, especially
if a student has already chosen his
specialty? What kind of program
will best prepare primary physicians?
How can medical students
have more experience in community
medicine? Does a premed
course prepare a medical student
better than a liberal arts course?
Why should an entering student
repeat subject matter already mastered,
as in the case of an
undergraduate chemistry major?
Instead, why couldn't a proficiency
test determine advanced standing?

"But any time you make a
change, you need to know why you
are changing and then whether the
changes are effective," Dr. Ingersoll
stresses.

Already Dr. Ingersoll has had
extensive experience in evaluating
medical school curricula and programs.
Director of research and
services in medical education at
Ohio State University's College of
Medicine for four years, he headed
a joint program on "education of
medical education researchers" for
the college of education and medicine
funded for three years by a
$150,000 per year National Institutes
of Health grant.

A science major on the undergraduate
level, Dr. Ingersoll holds a
master's degree in personnel and
guidance from the University of
Colorado and a doctorate in counselor
education from Ohio State.

"Medical school faculty have
started asking questions about
theory, research and the practice of
teaching. We want to know how
effective our teaching and evaluation
methods are. These are both
areas where we can use Dr.
Ingersoll's talents," said Dr. Kenneth
R. Crispell, dean of the
University's medical school.

In the view of Dr. Frederick
Cyphert, dean of the School of
Education, "The education school
is firmly convinced that the social
problems worth solving today can't
be solved by one school operating
unilaterally. We must join hands to
solve problems. The heart of Dr.
Ingersoll's assignment is to help
build these relationships across the
Grounds."