Hebert favors medical school: National Facility Is Proposed by Solon

              A national medical school fashioned along the lines of the nation's major service acad­emies was proposed here Sun­day night by. Louisiana Con­gressman F.  Edward Hebert,
The school would be situated in the Washington, D. C. area and would be adjacent to the medical complex made up of the Walter Reed medical center, the Naval hospital at Bethesda, Md., and the National Health Insti­tute.
Hebert disclosed his plans in an address delivered at the Sur­gical Association of Louisiana's annual banquet in the Sheraton-Charles hotel.
The national medical school would serve the nation's health interests just as the service academies serve the nation's de­fense interests, he said.
Hebert's talk followed the as-j sociation's annual meeting and I election of officers held during the day at the hotel.
A major problem facing the United States today, Hebert said, is the serious shortage of civilian doctors along with a shortage of service physicians in the regular armed forces. THREAT OF DRAFT
"The blank spaces in the mili­tary field are being filled on a temporary basis by drawing from the civilian pool," Hebert said. Thus, he stated, doctors are exposed to the threat of a drtfft.
The school Hebert proposes *'woud provide an education for qualified youth who otherwise would be unable to get a medi­cal education and whose talents! would thereby be lost."
He emphasized that the insti­tution would in no way con­stitute a step towards socialized; medicine.
A primary purpose of the school would also be . to fill gaps in the public health serv­ice field, "the greatest field of preventive medicine for the overall population," he said,    j
Graduates of the school would have to spend a specified pe­riod of compulsive service either in the military or in the U. S/ public health service, He­bert explained, much as the graduates of the service acad­emies are obliged to fulfill a tour of duty obligation.
Additionally, Hebert went on the school would offer special ized medical training geared tc the needs of not only the mill tary but also to the highly spe cialized field of the health prob lems posed by the space age. 'LONG  HAUL'
The school would also train i limited number of doctors froir foreign countries who would be taught the most advanced tech­niques for curbing epidemics and other health problems pe­culiar to their own lands, he added.
Hebert said he first projected the idea 12 years ago. He said President Eisenhower, ther Army chief of staff, former de­fense secretary James Forres-tal and every surgeon genera] since have endorsed the plan in principle.
"I know I've got a long haul in front of me, but I'm deter-mined to fight it through," he said. "This will be my num­ber one objective of the fu­ture."
Elected president of the asso­ciation at its business meeting was Dr. Daniel Former of Ba­ton Rouge. Also newly elected was Dr Claude Craighead, New Orleans, second vice-pres­ident.
RE-ELECTED OFFICERS
Re-elected officers were Dr. Walter Becker, New Orleans, first vice-president; Dr. J. Mor­gan Lyons, New Orleans, treas- PHOTO: DR. DANIEL FOURRIER