Louisiana State University Shreveport Medical School - Pulse Yearbook (Shreveport, LA)

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THE HISTORY OF LSU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN SHREVEPORT Danny S. Wood The 100th medical school to be estab- lished in the United States was created on Monday, May 31, 1965, when Repre- sentative J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. of Caddo Parish steered a bill through the House of Representatives in Baton Rouge to found a new medical school in Shreve- port. The bill passed, fifty-seven to forty- three, in the House, and by June 7 of the same year the Senate authorized it and Governor John J. McKeithen put the fin- ishing touch on the bill with his signature. So the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport was formally created in roughly a week - but its beginnings go back a little farther - ten years, in fact, before the bill ever hit the State Legislature. Since 1955, Dr. Joe E. Holoubek had headed a committee of the Shreveport Medical Society to get a medical school located in Shreveport. So in June of 1965, after ten years of work, worry, but always optimism dreams were changed to realities and work was turned into more work and planning. A dean was needed for the school, and a dean was acquired - the Dean of Louisiana medicine - Dr. Edgar Hull. Dr. Hull, the associate dean of the LSU Medical Center, was named

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ilVl -1-all if MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN X lllllalmlllff MTM' Medicine in Shreveport. Students and faculty alike have been patient and understanding as a new Dean settled into his new responsibilities. Several exciting faculty members have ioined the family and a second senior class has graduated in fine style. Tremendous prog- ress was made on our new buildings scheduled for occupancy on July 1, 1975 - and funds for the renovation and remo- delling of Confederate Memorial Hospital have been approved through the energetic efforts of the hospital administration. ln difficult times we have fared rather well and have established ourselves as a fully operating and approved school of medicine. It is gratifying.-that a significant and most appropriate degree of student input to substantive issues facing our institution has been provided. The Committee on Student Affairs has been increasingly active and effective and a chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha, the national scholastic honor society in medicine, has been chartered. The aggregate of accomplishments is impressive, and is a direct reflection of the dedication, energy, skill and morale of the individuals who make up our student body, our faculty and the many others who work unselfishly to support both. The challenge of the years ahead will be to continue our development and maturation while preserving all the invigorating elements of the founding years - the sense of family, interest in individuals, pride in what we are doing and in what has ' The academic year of 1973-1974 has been a busy and eventful one for the School of ,O . 9:47 S' .ie Q, Y 'H J' K I'-.Z 5 X , 5 ,ihvlm E fl ' ,bl il! vg already been done, respect for fundamental values and dedication to the idea of doing the best iob we can as physicians, scientists, and students of medicine. Thrill can and surely will be an important instrument in meeting this challenge. 4 . bf 1 - : V 5 KN - .W 19 X alhff' SUV ..--

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interim dean of the new school by Dr. William W. Frye, chancellor of the LSU Medical Center. A member of the Univer- sity's medical faculty for nearly thirty-five years, Dr. Hull had been serving as asso- ciate dean of the LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans since 1954, and was also professor and head of its Depart- ment of Medicine. Also in 1966, Dr. George R. Meneely ioined Dean Hull as coordinator for development of plans and programs for the school, acting through the position of associate dean. Even with this excellent leadership, the fledgling medical school needed money - 530.5 million to be exact. The pro- curement of these funds had its start in December of 1966 when the State Legis- lature voted unanimously to finance part of the building of the school through a S10 million state bond issue. But there was still a matter of 520.5 million, which was sought from the federal government. Dean Hull stated in 1967, We're work- ing against a November 1 deadline for getting in our application for federal funds. We're working day and night - I work all day and the staff works all night. Not only can Dean Hull's wit be sensed in this quotation, but also the suc- cess of his hard work - for in December of 1969 it was announced that the appli- cation for 520.5 million in federal match- ing funds was approved by the federal government. Preparations were already underway for the school to acquire its first students. A contract was signed March 18, 1967, for beginning development of the twelve- story medical school, the most costly state building ever constructed in Louisi- ana, to be located immediately adjacent to the Confederate Memorial Hospital. Confederate, a 1,000 bed charity hospi- tal, was planned to be used as the medi- cal school's instruction center for clinical training. Also, in June of 1967, it was announced that the Veterans Administra- tion Hospital in Shreveport and all of its facilities would be available to the medi- cal school. Most of the classes for the first two years were planned to be held at the V.A. hospital. Research labs, as well as classrooms and offices, were set up at the hospital. Besides the full-time depart- ment heads and instructors beginning to be appointed, in February, 1968, the appointment of 138 part-time faculty members to the school was announced by Dean Hull. All of the part-time