Medical Schools of Nation Engage In Tremendous Expansion Program

Today's undergraduates will find it easier than ever before to get into a medical school. A quarter of a billion dollars will be poured into an expansion program now under way among the nation's medical schools, Benjamin Fine reported in the New York Times Sunday.

Ten states plan to create new medical schools. Others are expanding existing schools which grant degrees only in the basic sciences to regular four year colleges of medicine. These states include Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Florida, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Missouri.

Deans of the three Boston medical schools agreed yesterday that this expansion is the best solution for the nation's needs. But all three, Dr. George P. Berry of Harvard, Dr. James M. Faulkner of Boston University, and Dr. Dwight O'Hara of Tufts, cautioned against sacrificing the quality of instruction.

O'Hara Discusses Demand

O'Hara felt that the projected expansion would be sufficient to fill a normal peace-time demand. "But there are hazards in having too many doctors," he warned.

Concerning the shortage of doctors in rural areas, he said that the development of improved roads and centralized hospitals in these areas has greatly decreased the need.

Boston University is the only one of the three local schools planning any extended expansion. B.U. has purchased land adjoining the present campus and will build within three years, Faulkner said. The new buildings will allow the first year class to increase from 72 students to 100.

Harvard completed some expansion after the war, and no more is expected in the immediate future, Berry said. Tufts completed a new building three years ago, adding ten percent to its enrollment; O'Hara however foresees no further increase.

Even though medical schools admitted the largest freshman class in history last fall, many qualified applicants are still being refused. Many state schools accept only residents of their state. Iowa, bound by this restriction, had only 158 applicants for 120 openings this year. In contrast Syracuse, a private school, accepted 76 out of 2,284 applicants.

Tufts admits only residents of New England in order to counterbalance the fact that the nation's medical schools admit fewer applicants from New England per unit of population than from any other region. Tufts feels a responsibility to aid New England first, O'Hara said