Med School Task Force to Consider Community Health Training Program

A student-faculty task force at the Medical School, to be appointed next week, will investigate possibilities for increased emphasis on community health in the Medical School program.

Robert H. Elbert, dean of the Medical School, agreed Monday to appoint the task force at the request of the Third World Caucus, a group of 125 Chicano, black, American Indian and Puerto Rican Medical students.

The task force will examine bio-social curriculum, a relatively new aspect of medical education, which stresses training in community health care, Jaime Rivera, a member of the Caucus said yesterday.

Earlier Contact

The Caucus has also demanded earlier contact with patients, pass-incomplete grading, new provisions for clinical training and representation on Medical School committees.

"Harvard has made a commitment to training students in primary health care, and this program should be the beginning," Rivera said.

If instituted, the new program will probably require new facilities, new course offerings and new faculty, Dr. Fred C. Lane, dean of Students at the Med School said yesterday. "It's still a very embryonic thing, but I'm in favor of looking at it," he said.

"American medical needs are demanding increased primary health care," Lane said, "and this new track will stimulate students to seek the appropriate training."

"This raises questions of general practice various specialized practice and community health centers versus hospital practice, and these are important questions," Lane added.

Pioneers

Lane said that the proposed curriculum track would be a pioneering effort for the Medical School. Several other universities have begun to consider similar programs but few have instituted them.

The task force will make recommendations for the new curriculum, study available facilities and submit findings to Ebert and a Faculty committee within three months. The Faculty committee has final authority for deciding on the program's future.

"The only drawback is that we may not have facilities or a viable curriculum," Lane said, "but the students have stimulated Harvard to consider this very important problem."