Ebert Criticizes Medical Education, Objects to Emphasis on Research

Robert H. Ebert, Dean of the Med School, went to San Fransisco this weekend to urge reform in medical education across the country.

Ebert called for a complete reorientation of emphasis in medical training so that medical schools can do their part in improving the quality of health care.

"If we don't have some answers, some constructive ideas about the health care delivery system, the alternative may be pressure to create large numbers of doctors, and the modern version of the nineteenth century diploma mills may reappear," Ebert warned the Association of American Colleges on Saturday night. Ebert blamed the shortage of physicians on "the reluctance of medical schools to increase in size, and the expense of creating new medical schools" since they depend too heavily on funds ticketed for research.

"Money given for research and research training," Ebert said, "is the major source of support for the modern medical school...If a teacher obtains a research grant, he must be given an adequate laboratory which is well equipped. It is not unusual to make an initial investment of $50,000 to $100,000 in a new teacher, all of which is for support of his research."

He continued, "One wonders what might happen if money were given directly for the support of teachers who might also do research rather than for investigators who may also teach."

"Possibly it would place medical schools in a better position to consider increasing their size, and it might provide a more realistic measure of the cost of medical teaching."

Ebert also discussed the maldistribution of physicians, citing the shortage of doctors in the central city, and "the even more desperate" situation in rural areas.