University of Michigan Medical and Nursing School - Aequanimitas Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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'-vs as we William Levis Robert Lootens Richard Louden Harry Lubetsky Indicative ofthe concern and involvement with medical education of both this years sophomores and certain members of faculty and administration have been a number of meetings held outside of regular school hours to talk things over. What was accomplished is hard to measure, but this year the effort has at least been made. K if I 3 . W-W,-,W--.ww ,,,.. . ,,,,.,kk ,V A-,. ,.,,gg:ftwf3wt T. ,..,..,,,,,1i,,:q. ,,,. swam, ,fi-:wwff:z'azga5mwtwmw,,,wil3ti, the class felt dissatisfied with the lectures and hoped, to discuss the situation with those who could make some changes. Mike made it clear that it was a con- cern for Public Health, not a denial of its importance, that prompted the meeting, and invited the lecturers to form a panel and begin discussion. One of the professors declared that he was so impressed with the size of the audience that he would be willing to dis- cuss anything. Soon Dr. Fred Davenport, who had previously delivered Public Health lectures to the class, arrived and the question-answer period continued. Dr, Davenport and the rest of the faculty, as well as the students, all handled the situation well. But it was clear to the students that more than just courtesy and self confidence was neededg an honest reappraisal was being called for by the students. Soon Drs. Green, Weller, Campbell and DeMuth joined the ik-4 Richard Martin tete Diane Masters jeffrey Mattes , 'Qs-'Wm' :SW - , K Di Q

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. ss' , Robert Kraff nr. ,, lf 1 George Krick -.44 SA!! cn . 'ff-r Vincent LaPorte .ag I lr 1 ..- KYM' P Edward Leib james Lesser Nearly all of the Sophomore Medical Class gath- ered together in M3330 last Friday afternoon, Octo- ber 25, to voice disapproval over some aspects of the generally well accepted new curriculum. joining in the impromptu, but orderly discussion were Dr. Robert Green, Dr. john Weller, Dr. Colin Camp- bell, Dr. George DeMuth, as well as members ofthe Public Health Department, including Dr. Fred Davenport. The class has been assigned to split into four groups in different areas of the medical center from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon for Public Health lec- tures in the Clinical Medicine 600 course, but a class meeting held over the noon hour called for the large gathering instead. It all began when about 40 sophomores met at noon on Friday for a class meeting concerning a multitude of grievances, from recent examination questions to dissatisfaction with some of the lectures-primarily those presented by the Public Health Department. Most found the Public Health lectures to be irrelevant and boring, but a note from the Public Health Department announcing that there would be what was interpreted as a quiz was perhaps a precipitating factor. If the Public Health Depart- ment can't make lectures worth coming to,'l it was argued, 'Lhow can they further insult us by using a quiz as a gimmick to make us attend? Soon the group, which was becoming larger by the minute, realized that the real issue was not that Public Health was an unworthy subject for lectures ton the contrary, the consensus was that Public Health and the students deserved better treatmentl, nor was the issue particular exam questions. CLThey can ask us what of the population Tel-Aviv is if they want tofu a student declaredj. The real issue was medical edu- cation, and what the student could do to improve it. At the noon meeting, proposals were considered to do something to make the Public Health Department aware of growing student dissatisfaction. It was suggested that the whole class not go to the lectures fthere were four classrooms originally assigned for small-group-case-study sessionsj, or that a walkout should be staged-but these ideas were rejected as not constructive enough and too easily misinter- pretedg they might cause more harm than good and make communication even more strained. Finally it was agreed by the great majority simply to gather in one place and call for an open discussion. Then stu- dents were sent to inform the rest ofthe class and the lecturers ofthe mass assembly in M3330, Some stu- dents then noted that perhaps the rest of the class would not agree, and that because of the lack of preparation there could be no realistic proposals for improvement. But despite the obvious shortcomings, it was decided to go ahead and at least make known the feelings ofthe vast majority of the class. By the time class would have begun, Mike Epstein, who was requested to speak for the group, explained to the four faculty members present that

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sm., 1 4 av 7 Y' '3' Frederick Miller M Lvr, V-fmttgfiwy.. ,,L, ,tri ..,. ,,::,g..gss.-ff-i W,ff :- spectators in the rear and were invited to come and take part. g y A variety of constructive proposals and respectful criticisms were well made by many class members throughout the twor hour period. Proposals were made for more meaningful community public health projects, including a Public Health rotation. Much concern was shown for how well and how much the class was actually learning in both basic sciences and clinical medicine. Many students made the point that this class is concerned with participating in commu- nity medicine, participating in its own educational change, and deciding how its time is best spent, and won't tolerate poor lectures that don't make good use of time. One class member warned that the student voice must be listened to while the students still have faith in the medical schoolis change-making process and are willing to cooperate fully. Others found many lectures not worthwhile and suggested the use of good handout material. Before the session ended, the class voted by a show of hands and overwhelmingly approved two motions: lj that the class approved of the discussiong and ZH that classwide dissatisfaction not only concemed Public Health, but some Clinical Medicine presenta- tions as well. In closing, the members of the panel said that they found the session rewarding, and welcomed further criticism from the students. The two-hour impromptu meeting ended with applause from both sides. .ca .1 David Miller 5 J Alan Mindlin