Med School Plans New Scholarships

The Committee for Disadvantaged Students reported yesterday to the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School that at least fifteen scholarships will be available for the Medical and Dental classes of 1973.

The chairman of the committee, Dr. David D. Potter, associate professor of Neurobiology, also disclosed that a total of $56,400 had been pledged by the Faculty for the next three years. The estimated cost of the scholarships is $75,000 per academic year.

The balance of the immediate expense will have to come from private philanthropy. However, Dr. Robert H. Ebert, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, said yesterday that "eventually we will have to have an office for recruitment." Formal fund-raising might be a function of this office, Potter said.

Yesterday Potter reported that 43 formal applications had been received and "well over 60 inquiries." Because the Admissions Committee will not consider applications until next spring, he did not know how many of these applications might be promising candidates.

All 43 applicants were black. However, Dr. Potter emphasized that the Committee was seeking students from all disadvantaged minorities. He said that the Committee had contacted American Indian and Mexican-American groups this summer. Although the Med School has several African students, there are no American blacks in its first year class this year.

Will Expand Classes

The scholarships will raise the size of the Medical School class from approximately 160 to 185. Ebert said yesterday that this "will probably put some strain on the facilities."

Though Potter and Ebert both said that they hoped eventually to recruit more than fifteen disadvantaged students, Ebert said that the School has "no immediate plans to expand the physical plant."

Under the cross-registration program with the College and who lack sufficient preparation in any of the sciences will be able to do remedial work while they are enrolled in the Medical School.

The program for any student, Potter said, can be tailored to individual interests and needs. Time to complete the requirements for the doctorate can range from three and a half to five years.

Some of the applicants have expressed a strong interest in working on health problems among disadvantaged groups. Potter said, though, that the purpose of the program is not to produce ghetto doctors but simply to provide an opportunity conmmensurate with ability.

Ebert appointed the Committee last April. It includes 13 faculty members and two second-year black students. During the spring and summer Dr. Perry J. Culver '37, associate dean of admissions, and Edgar L. Milford '67, a Fellow in Administrative Medicine, contacted premed advisors at 81 colleges in the U.S.

The deadline for applications is March 1, 1969.