Jefferson Medical College - Clinic Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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President The following article is a transcript of a taped conversa- tion between Yearbook representative Robert Coblentz and Dr. Lewis Blumle, President of TIU. The discussion covers a wide range of topics of concern to leffersonians in general and the class of '7 9 in particular. The transcript was edited by the interviewer. YB: In a previous interview you defined governance as a mechanism by which we define our goals and determine our priorities. Are you content with jefferson in its present incarnation? Blumle: Which interview was that? Oh, that one. YB: I studied it last night between IV's. Blumle: Oh, this was even before I came here. This was out in Oregon. I wasn't encumbered by any experience then. Since that time there has been put together a task force on university planning. I cannot predict what's going to come of it, but I can say that it is as consequential an element of governance in the planning of an institution as anything else we have. I would like to see some evolutio- nary steps on the student level because our students do, I think, seem to identify with their own political groups. You don't identify, I would guess, with the segments of the stu- dent body that are in, say Allied Health? YB: Not entirely. Many of us are well identified just as jefferson Medical Students. Blumle: Well, it's more than a question of philosophy and ideal models. It's a question of not being able to deal with some fundamental problems, practical ones, like how we should arrange our graduation exercises. YB: Yes, I have to say that when I mentioned I was going to be talking with you this afternoon, at least four of my classmates said to be sure and ask you about graduation. Blule: You know, this is an interesting problem, for which we do not yet have an appropriate body of students to whom I could say, Here are a couple of conflicting points of view on this. Would you mull this over and come to me with some recommendations? This would be my natural inclination. Now, that organization doesn't exist, partly because we have not gotten to the point where we have a university-wide student council. l'm going to be pushing for it. YB: What will Dr. Lewis Blumle's contribution to Thomas jefferson University be? Or is it too premature to 94 ask that? Blumle: Oh, it may be. When I ask myself that question in private, I really think I focus on what are the most del manding problems that we have to face. I think that one oi our greatest challenges is to figure out how we are going to maintain the fiscal health of the institution over the next decade. We have gone through a really remarkable phase of physical plant expansion. YB: It's amazing. In the four years that I've been here - 2 new parking lot, a new dorm, a new hospital, that's foul years. On the subject of dollars, do we lose independence by accepting federal money? , Blumle: I think all of the institutions in this country tha are accepting federal dollars and capitation have lost ar element of independence. We've lost independence in mix of students that we want to pick, and, although this not materially affected the mix we would take, even symbol of giving up our right to set our own judgments

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Anatole Besarab

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priorities strikes me as an unfortunate thing. We have had to accept federal demands with regard to residency train- ing, and, while we have no great philosophical difference about what should be the product of residency training, it still makes us all a little uneasy. However, I do not consider this the central problem of the university, it's not an issue that is tearing us apart. YB: You have said that you felt you could tell Iefferson's story in a persuasive way. To me that has the aura of poli- tics. Do you feel that physicians have a role in politics? Blumle: I feel that physicians have a role in politics in the area of their own expertise. I feel it is important for them to play that role, otherwise we are not going to achieve in this country a knowledgeable compromise between certain so- cial ideals and good medical care. We have avoided unba- lanced decisions in this country largely because enough physicians have been willing to speak up for that other imperative, which is quality of health care. The only sensi- ble balance in keeping with our set of human values must epresent a compromise between containing cost and aintaining quality. YB: Along those lines, do you feel that health care is a uman right? Blumle: I think health care is a human right in a country hat is rich enough to provide it. Given that you can only ealistically call it a right in a country rich enough to pro- ide it, then the question becomes one of how do you split he resources of that country between health as a right plus ducation as a right, public housing, food, military, and a hole bunch of other competing things? The bottom line, ow we actually do split up our resources, comes very lose to saying that in America health care is one of the hings everyone should have. YB: Let's switch to a different topic now. Are you happy ith the amount and quality of the research going on at efferson? Blumle: According to recent information jefferson ranks n the top fifty percent of American medical schools in erms of dollars for research. I have learned through de- artmental reviews that there is some very substantial, very olid, creditable research going on here. I don't believe that have any reason to be depressed or feel inadequate be- ause oflefferson's research record. I do feel that in some of ur clinical areas there is an opportunity for more activity clinical investigations. I think, though, we have done a it of a better job in beefing up our research at a basic cience level. I really think the most important determinant of change leading to greater involvement in clinical re- search is leadership. We want to achieve a balance in our faculty between clinical excellence, teaching ability, and research activity. YB: Do you see any changes in the curricula, especially with regard to the balance of time between the basic sci- . . .' giving up our right to set our own judgments and priorities strikes me as an unfortunate thing. ences and clinical work? Blumle: I think if left to our students' advice we would probably get into clinical activities on day one and have much more clinical involvement in the first and second years, we would probably cut down on the total amount of time involved in basic sciences. I think the compromise that we have reached is a rather acceptable one. Certainly there are not any problems with the students' achieve- ments. The board scores and other indices - like where they go to do their first year of residency - show how well they've done. YB: One of your hallmarks at Oregon was involving stu- dents in administrative decisions. You feel that you would like to do that more at jefferson, as I understand it. Blumle: I have found the students that I have talked to very responsible. The ones I have talked to had very open minds, responsible and receptive, in working out com- promise. Why don't we have students sitting in on the board of trustees? I'd probably have to say, I'm not sure that spending that much time on that kind of activity would be sufficiently rewarding to students for me to lay that on them as something that I think they ought to be doing. YB: Interesting that no one has come and asked you about that. Perhaps it says something about medical educa- tion and medicine. As Dr. Brent would say, Medicine - an excuse from living. 95