Radcliffe Receives Funds for Program On Health Care

Radcliffe has received a two-year grant of $318,000 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to develop a program through the Radcliffe Institute that will prepare women for new careers in primary health care.

Under the terms of the grant, the first year will be devoted to a program development seminar, drawing together experts from the School of Public Health, the Medical School and area hospitals, to identify areas in which health care needs exist and to work out a training program to meet those needs.

During the second year, the funds will make 12 fellowship and training grants available to women--six to general practitioners or family doctors, and the rest to high school or college graduates who seek para-professional training in primary health care fields.

In an interview last week, Radcliffe President Horner described the grant as "a step forward to meet national health care needs." Horner said that the Johnson program will provide an information and counselling center for the northeast corridor to aid women who are interested in primary health care work.

"Social problems require an interdisciplinary focus," Horner said. "The exciting thing about the Institute is that it is a natural place to pull together all interdisciplinary experts. It is a neutral ground where they can come together to tackle their mutual interests."

"There will be expert symposia first and then it will be opened up to undergraduates," Horner said. "It would be wrong to direct it to an elite group of people. It is the people who are here now who will be carrying out the work in areas which experts say are critical for the future."