University Daily Kansan
Thursday, August 23, 1973
3
Vacations Obsolete KU Med School Institutes New 3-Year Concentrated Curriculum
Bv LAUREL DEFOE
Kansan Staff Writer
One school at the University of Kansas that never seems to have problems placing their graduates is the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City. The need for doctors seems to be continuous and making as is the process of educating them.
this summer another group of students begin what will turn out to be several years of concentrated study in the field of mathematics. To be completed they will enter society as qualified, capable, responsible doctors ready to serve the public. Before that time comes, however, they must complete the program and work for them by attending the Center faculty.
This year all students will face a new program. Some faculty members and the majority of students have recently expressed their displeasure about the changes that were made in the curriculum during the summer.
THE NEW PROGRAM entails three years of study according to Dr. Joe Kimmel, director of curriculum and professor of biochemistry. Students will generally enter the program on July 1 and are expected to graduate three years later.
The program, which is divided into modules, is continuous and does not have the usual summer vacation breaks. Because of the elimination of the summer vacation, Kimmel said, it is possible for students to finish the program in three years.
In the new system, the first 66 weeks of the students' time is spent studying the preclinical disciplines. These 66 weeks would correspond to years in a traditional program.
IN THE FIRST MODULE, the student studies anatomy. Kimmel said that in spite of the fact that this didn't sound like very much, the anatomy classes kept the student very busy.
in the second module, students study biology and physiology, the third, nutrition and health.
Students also study microbiology, pathology and pharmacology.
When a student has completed this work, Kirmel said, he will have finished what has been taught.
WHILE THE STUDENT engages in preclinical study, he is also involved in numerous other programs. One of these programs, the Clinical Process, is designed to acquaint students with the behaviors and patterns of patients early in medical school.
Students are expected to attend one session a week with physicians in the community to discuss the patients' problems and treatments.
Kimmel said it was hoped that these sessions would increase the doctors' sensitivity to patients and make them more aware of the patients' problems.
OTHER SESSIONS are spent discussing human sexuality and communication
histories, students are supposed to learn how to diagnose physical ailments. Histories and diagnoses are basic to all medicine, he said.
Kimmel said that the students examine each other before they examine actual patients. Older doctors watch to help the children remember what to do and remember when they were in med school.
Students are also required to spend four weeks of internship with a practicing physician in the state. The University requires this internship for graduation.
For the internship, the student selects the doctor he wants to work with.
BY THE TIME the student finishes studying the last pre-clinical discipline, he has also finished the diagnostic training and is ready to begin work in the clinics.
"The doctor provides the student's room and board and expects the student to do his own research."
"There's no time to relax and let your hair down. Undergraduate school was a picnic compared to what we're going through now."
—medical student
tactics. Kimmel said that one thing a doctor must learn was how to be inquisitive in an objective manner. A doctor must learn to ask questions he means mean and must be observant, he said.
"If he doesn't have a pretty good idea what's wrong with a patient after he takes the patient's history, then the physical won't going to help much," Kimmel said.
It takes practice to learn to obtain information in an objective manner, he said.
THESE SESSIONS also deal with the topic of death, which Kimmel was not a topic people liked to deal with, though it is one that all doctors eventually must face. The faculty tries to acquaint students with such topics early in the academic program so that students begin to think about the problems they will face.
HE SAID THAT it was a valuable program because it gave the student an opportunity to experience the social and civic life of the doctor as well as his professional life. KU is one of the few students in the country that offers such a program.
He said that doctors in the state thought the program was a good way to recruit new students.
After they learn how to take patient's
Before this summer, students were required to take six weeks of classes in each of the clinical areas: surgery, pediatrics, psychology, obstetrics and gynecology and internal medicine. This accounted for about 50 per cent of the required course load. The remaining 50 per cent was filled by elec- tors and each individual student chose for himself
THIS CURRICULUM has changed, however. Now students are required to take
The co-op serves members only. Membership involves paying a $5 non-refundable fee.
Kimmel said the reasons for the additional weeks required in internal medicine were an administrative problem with the students' out-patient work and that most students elected to take the additional six weeks in internal medicine before completing the additional weeks required simply added the administration of the out-patient work.
eight weeks in surgery, pediatrics,
twelve weeks in neurology and
12 weeks of internal medicine
Because of the changes, only one third of the student's program may be elected counsel.
KHMEL SAID, however, that the other clinical areas could have gotten along nicely with the previous requirement of six weeks. He said that by the time students had finished their required six weeks in each of the clinical areas, they were well trained and able to determine which specific area they would want to concentrate on.
Members of Local Co-Op Plan To Share Good, Low-Cost Food
Cutting the electives by 17 per cent decreases the opportunity for the student to participate.
Kimnel said that most students were opposed to the additional required hours.
Mohir said that most students were opposed to the additional required hours. He said they had been told that one of the reasons he came to KU was that KU offered a student the opportunity to select 50 per cent of his clinical courses. He said KU was breaking its own rules and studying in students in their second and third years of study by the sudden change in curriculum.
THE CO-OP has been functioning for nearly two months and now consists of approximately 40 buying units each having the same policy decisions of the organization.
THE TICKETS provide adequate capital for weekly inventory and reduce the actual cash flow over the counter. Unsured portions of tickets may be used toward pur-
The co-op charges a 10 per cent markup on its items and sells these through subscription tickets. The tickets are printed in large, black letters and are punched at the time of purchase.
Kansan Staff Writer
The Douglas County Food Cooperative has recently been formed to bring quality food at low cost to families and individuals in the county. The cooperative, Loggerman, one of the coop's organizers.
By DWIGHT HILPMAN
"It also means you're committed," said Kris Rice, another member of the co-op.
The 12-week requirement in internal medicine was uncalled for, he said, because most students take 12 hours avwv.
"Most fruits and vegetables, milk, eggs, flour and w germ are available through the co-op," Logterman said. "Presently, we have a large selection of fresh fruits in Kansas City on Saturday morning."
The co-op is being established on a long-
term basis to deal with the rising cost of
living. It is conducted on a private, non-
profit basis, with membership open to all.
"As a cooperative, it requires group coordination and a small amount of individual sacrifice in time and energy to achieve success. And individual savings," said Louterman.
initial fee, renewable yearly for $2, to cover basic costs.
"With wholesale prices going up, many seasonal vegetables are staying at the same prices or perhaps rising when normally they would go down," she said.
ORDER FORMS with speculated prices are available on Tuesdays and are turned in by Thursday evenings at the co-op's office or by park streets, behind the Kansas Key Press.
"We are dependent on market prices. We have difficulty competing with North Lawrence prices when we have to charge our mark-up. But this fall, the co-op should be well established and capable of bringing substantial savings."
chase of another ticket or are refunded.
Records are kept in case of lost tickets
The co-op has recently moved and is reorganizing, in an attempt to become income-generating. We are holding meetings and organizing to deal with issues such as food pick-up, bagging and distribution, newsletter preparation, researching new resources and drawing up
why make it a requirement?" he asked.
THE FACULTY is now in the process of deciding whether to increase the present requirement of eight weeks of surgery to 12
"The most important thing to know about the co-op is that people here have to learn cooperative principles," she stressed. "We can't have only one person knowing a job because then it ties us up when that person isn't at the meetings."
ROSE CautIONED persons interested in
the use of not expect incredibly low prices
at time.
Kimuel said this wasn't necessary as students received adequate training with the program.
Several students said the reason the surgery department was pushing for the increase in required weeks was the large number of faculty members in surgery.
"Students don't like it," one said.
ANOTHER STUDENT said that because of the change in curriculum he would have to stay in school longer than three years in high school. He said that he wouldn't have enough time for.
“There are some electives, like radiology, that are basic,” he said. “It’s important that I take them, regardless of the financial expense that goes along with another year.”
The students said they hadn't been given a choice in the matter of curriculum change and said students weren't allowed to vote on the curriculum committee.
ONE STUDENT SAID that a faculty member had said the faculty didn't intend to ask the students' opinions, nor did they want to hear from the students.
The student said, "not all faculty members are as closed-minded. Most are not."
Several students have said that the period they spend in medical school was an extremely difficult time, that there was an amount of noise and that the study load was burdensome.
MOST OF THE STUDENTS said there was little time in their schedules for social interaction.
"There's no time to relax and let your hair down. Undergraduate school was a picnic compared to what we're going through now," one student said.
Students and faculty members said that many students seek psychiatric help and social services.
Certificates of Merit have been awarded to KANU radio station and to Billy Brant, executive producer, by the Highway Users Federation.
Campus Station Gets Awards
The certificates were awarded in appreciation for outstanding public service in
the use of mass communication resources to help Americans better understand the world.
KANU will also be recognized for an outstanding entry in the 25th annual Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Highway Safety.
they have a hard time coping with the pressure these pressures are multiplied at different times.
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ONE STUDENT SAID, "I know I can make it now. There was a time a few weeks ago when I thought I was going to crack up. The stress was so great because I was studying for pathology and microbiology and made it then, so I know I can make it now."
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"A lot of the stress is unwarranted," another student said. "It doesn't need to be this tough." she said one reason the pressure was so great was that so much material was cramped into what she called years of concentrated, non-stop study.
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KIMMEL SAID he thought the tension on the KU campus was greater than it was on other colleges.
Kimmel said the stress was even greater
because of the three-year continual
pressure.
It "struck me that there a lot of stress
it," he said, "Students don't perform
better."
B Barbara Harris, Jack Wärten, David Burns- Dom De Lusie
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
SOME REASONS FOR BURNING
A BURNING A BURNING
The commitment to the three-year program was made to the state in return for the state's promise of more financial support to increase the number of students. NOW, HE SAID, any student entering the program is committed to the three-year program.
"MEDICINE NOW is so diverse. We need to give students the opportunity to explore areas of diversification as they go through school."
One way to allow a slower pace, he said, would be to liberalize the pre-clinical years by offering courses the way they are offered in higher education. Students assigned orientation time, would define graduation requirements and course prerequisites and revise the admission to the clinical years, students would be able to attend medical training designed for their own capabilities, he said.
He said there was little opportunity for the students to slow down and to take school lessons.
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Fri. and Sat., Aug. 24, 25
Kirmmel isn't suggesting that educational standards be lowered or that the work be made easier. He said he hoped that this would allow the educational experience to more move meaningful and learnable so that it could best benefit the student, and society.
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WOODRUFF AUD.—KANSAS UNION