Historic Legacy: Early Years of the King-Drew Medical Complex by Arthur W. Fleming, MD( continued)
She served as the assistant chief of the KDMC Division of General Surgery from 1971 to 1980 and as vicechairperson from 1980 to 1985. Dr. Lou offered stability for the General Surgery Residency Program, serving as its Acting Director during the difficult years from 1978 to 1983. She was the initial program coordinator for the surgical clerkship from 1983 through 1985. Her moral and ethical behavior, hard work, and no-nonsense approach, combined with compassion, gained her the respect of her colleagues.
Her major research contributions were in the area of surgical infection. Dr. Lou was the second female surgeon elected to membership in the Pacific Coast Surgical Association. The chairperson of the Department of Medicine, Dr. David Ulmer, stated that she had been an inspiration to her colleagues.
Department Chairpersons
Between 1971-86, the Department of Surgery had two permanent chairpersons and nine interim chairpersons. Dr. Joseph L. Alexander, the founding chairperson, served from June 1, 1971, to May 31, 1976, and as interim chairperson from July 1980, to May 1981. From June 1976, through January, 1977, four division chiefs rotated two months each as acting chairperson. From February 1977 to February 1983, five interim chairpersons served, until I was appointed as the second permanent chairperson on February 4, 1983.
The Residency Program
When the Martin Luther King, Jr. General Hospital opened its doors in March 1972, it was notified by the Residency Review Committee( RRC) that the surgical residency program had been given provisional approval for a four-year program to begin on July 1. In November 1973, the RRC continued provisional approval of four-year program with a limit of nineteen residents( eight in the fir st year, four in the second and third year, and three in the fourth year. In May of 1975, a request was made for a five-year program, that gained full approval with the number of residents increased to twenty-three.
Most of the early KDMC residents were chosen primarily from American universities: Meharry Medical School supplied four of the first nine residents to finish the program. Howard, St. Louis, Georgetown, UCLA, and Cincinnati universities each supplied one resident. By 1979 the number of American graduates declined because of recruiting difficulties. By the 1981-1982 academic year, only 35 % of the graduates were from American medical schools( eight of twenty-three). In the 1982-1983 academic year, 16 % of the residents were black, and 72 % were graduates of foreign medical schools( FMGs). When I assumed the position of Department chairperson in February 1983, the new interns for the 1983-1984 academic year had already been chosen. Seventy percent of the incoming first-year residents were FMGs.
For the 1983-1984 academic year the number of foreign medical graduates had increased to 76 %, and only 20 % were black Americans. During the 1983-86 timeframe, the number of black American graduates has increased to 48 %. The number of FMGs decreased from 67 % in 1984 to 32 % by 1986.
Even then, the continuous theme that has resonated throughout the University’ s history prevailed: our belief that minority physicians are more likely than white physicians to care for poor and minority patients and practice in areas where medical services are scarce. Since the 1980s, we continue to recruit the underrepresented minorities with that understanding in mind.
During my tenure, the under represented minorities were noted as Blacks, native-born American Indians, Mexican Americans, and mainland Puerto Ricans. This definition was initially proposed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’ s team of educational testing service researchers and remains consistent with the University’ s mission and vision then and now.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 11