rr* t* r.
PORTL
BSERVER
Volume XXI, Number 32
The Eyes and Ears o f The Community"
25< P
August 7, 1991
Drew-Johnson Medical Education Project Launched
by
P o r tla n d
O bserver
S ta ff
Readers Have The
Last Word
by McKinley Burt
PAGE 2
Handwriting On
The Wall by
Dr. Leona Fulani
He has designed
and implemented a
project that incorpo
rates ideas he could
only dream o f in
1974...
PAGE 2
From the Bible
by Jerry Kingery
PAGE 3
New Study Shows
Effect of Warning
Labels on Records
PAGE 4
‘ .Vsl
&
Double Impact
Jean-Claude
Van Damme
PAGE 5
Debbie A llen
Story
of a People:
Expressions In Black
PAGE 5
I
A number o f medical
schools have begun to
provide material on
courses and scholar
ships available.
cK inley Burt, w riter and colum nist fo r the P ortland Observer, fo r
malized his 15 years o f effort in directing m inority and low income
youth into health/medical careers when he filed this non-profit cor
poration w ith the State o f Oregon last spring. This summer was one
o f intense activity in developing an experience-based structure that
would perm it the first student work/study positions to be ready by
w inter term (U niversity and High School).
W ith the help o f medical professionals and organizations, medical
schools and related industries such as pharmaceutical companies (com puter
ized data base), Burt feels that, today, he has designed and implemented a
project that incorporates ideas he could only dream o f in 1974 when he se
cured financing o f a sim ilar program from the Department o f Health,
Education and W elfare. A t the time Burt was an associate professor in the U r
ban Studies/Black H istory Department at Portland State University.
This “ summer” program fo r college students provided salaries, trans
portation and incidentals for 12 students who were assigned to w ork/study
positions at local hospitals and other health care institutions. F ollow ing the
very same “ expand-your-horizons” advice he gave his students, Burt had
picked up a copy o f the “ Los Angeles Sentinel,” the nation’ s largest A frican
American newspaper, and had begun to look fo r “ innovative ideas and
trends” that would be beneficial to the Portland area.
That year (1974), a prominent and dedicated black fam ily o f physiciaps
in Los Angeles had designed the program described above fo r their area, W i th
a single phone call, Burt secured their cooperation in bringing the program to
Portland, supported by a federal grant. When Portland State U nive rsity’s
guidelines proved unsatisfactory to the head o f B u rt’ s department, a local
social agency, the Metropolitan Steering Committee, was assigned the
program. M r. Burt s till secs this as a tragic mistake, for it “ made for a project
o f lim ited vision, besieged by internal p o litic s -a n d most im portantly, the
many medical industry resources I had lined up were never utilized (to the
tune o f several hundred thousand dollars).”
Professor Burt says that he has incorporated this bitter lesson into his
learning curve and in each subsequent project o f placing m inority students in
these position he has maintained close control and supervision both at the
adm inistrative and workplace levels. An excellent example is his 1987
project at Providence M edical Center where close cooperation between all
parties brought about the creation o f some very meaningful jobs slots w ith
long term potentials in the medical field. For instance, tw o black students
from Benson High School were enabled to build upon their background in
electronics and computer science in their jobs in computer analysis o f blood
and in data base hospital adm inistration, respectively.
This project was far advanced over the 1974 project in other ways. The
supervisory and student evaluation and feedback modes were far superior and
have been incorporated into the planning o f the present project. Many other
real-tim e considerations have been brought into the process such as a fu ll time
science professional to w ork at a three-way liaison between the project per
sonnel, the w ork site institution and the student’ s school that w ill be granting
academic credit fo r the a ctivity (The new project involves both high school
and college students). Further developments now include requests o f Ore
gon’ s Congressional Delegation for their support and the type o f inform ation
retrieval at w hich they are best. A number o f medical schools have begun to
provide material on courses and scholarships available. And several founda
tions have expressed interest.
This fa ll there w ill be a large advertisement in the P ortland Observer
w ith a form al description o f the project and solicitation o f students who have
interest in medical careers. There w ill be seminars announced where
prospective students can meet w ith hospital and industry professionals for
orientation in the health science fields-som e from eastern and southern
institutions. Career/work study slots w ill impact upon preparation fo r many
fic ld s -p h y s ic ia n , nurse, medical illustrator, x-ray technician, medical soci
ologist, geriatrics, pediatrics, oncology, hospital plans, trauma centers,
a rtific ia l lim b manufacture, long term care, nutrition, pharmacy and others.
A t the federal level this w ill be a “ Demonstrations Project,” and the
intent is to secure a performance sufficiently effective to secure continued
financing. Professor Burt feels that in consideration o f the industry level o f
interest and support, and the further support o f Oregon’s Congressional
D c lc g a tio n -n o t to mention com m unity su pp ort-all this w ill come together.
The name o f the organization is derived from those o f two black pioneers
in thje medical fie ld ; Dr. Charles Drew o f blood plasma fame and Dr. H allie
Johnson, the first female physician o f any color in the state o f Alabama.
INDEX
News
Religion
Entertainment
News
News
News
News
News
Classifieds
Bids & Sub-bids
B
1
I?
Í
■ *.? f
IM
•’S -'.v:
Historically Black Colleges And Universities
Share $1.5 Million In HUD Technical Assistance Funds
Fifteen Historically Black Colleges
and Universities (HBCUs) have been
awarded S1.5 m illio n in technical as
sistance funds to help expand and im
prove Com m unity Development Block
Grant activities in m inority com m uni
ties, H U D Secretary Jack Kemp an
nounced.
“ W ith our shared dream o f em
powering local communities and un
leashing a new generation o f Am erican
J j M M M M * * *»*(►•».» » ♦ t • »*5 *
■
entrepreneurs, H U D is pleased to select
these historically black colleges and
universities to help reach that goal,”
Secretary Kemp said.
The HBCUs selected today w ill
deliver a wide range o f technical assis
tance services to nearby communities
that participate—o r would like to par-
tie p a te -in the C om m unity Develop
ment Block Grant program. W orking
w ith these respected, historically black
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colleges and universities, neighboring
cities and rural communities w ill bene
fit through peer-to-peer consultation,
creation o f economic development plans,
and workshops to enhance the effec
tiveness o f existing block grant pro
grams.
Below are the 15 Historically Black
Colleges and Universities selected to
share $1.5 m illio n in H U D Technical
As< stance Funds.
Alabama
Alabama A&M University
205-851-5230
Arkansas
University of Arkansas
501-541-6500
District O f Columbia
Howard University
202 806-2500
Florida
Florida A&M University
904 366-2500
Louisiana
Xavier University
504-483-7541
Maryland
Morgan State University
301-444-3200
University of Maryland
301-651-3306
Mississippi
Jackson State University
601-986 212 <
North Carolina
Elizabeth City State Univ.
919-335-3400
North Carolina
North Carolina Central Univ.
919-560-6304
St. Augustine's College
919-828 4451
Tennessee
Fisk University
615-329-8555
List Continues on Page 5