School Staffers Stir Controversy

              School Staffers Stir Controversy
A medical practice plan would allow staff
physicians to engage in the private prac-tice
of medicine and the money received
would be channeled back through the
medical school.
Last fall the university employed a
professional organization of Seattle,
Wash., to design an appropriate type of
medical practice plan for the local
medical school, Dr. Grulee said. Kasonic-
Chapelle, a professional consulting
agency, has been working for three mon-ths
with the medical school together with
a staff - appointed Task Force.
DR. GRULEE also said the private
medical community in Shreveport and
Bossier City had at least two oppor-tunities
' to submit "productive" sug-gestions
to the medical school about the
practice plan. Local physicians polled
said they knew of no such opportunities.
Area physicians agreed that the
medical school did have some specialized
doctors who are needed and do assist the
private medical sector on a consultant
basis from time to time.
The doctors polled did not want their
names used but told the Journal their
opinions:
—"If unlimited private practice is al-lowed
by medical school professors, the
teaching and research are going to suf-fer."
—"Staff physicians employed by the
state should not conduct private practice
without having to pay the overhead costs
as do other practicing physicians."
—"Any physician who engages in
private medical practice should be
available to his patients 24 hours a day."
—"The fact is, they are teachers at a
teaching facility and are paid with our
tax dollars to teach."
—"With any type of unlimited practice
plan, eventually the teaching and
research becomes sidelines to private..
practice."
FACULTY physicians choose to teach,
according to the local physicians, and are
being paid by the state to teach medical
students. They expressed concern about
what kind of medical care would be
received by the nonpaying patient at
Confederate Memorial Medical Center
when the physician had paying private
patients.
Dr. Grulee said he did not believe
teaching would suffer from the time
faculty members devoted to private prac-tice.
He said private practice would help
in teaching.
One local internist told the Journal of
a recently hired staff physician who is
receiving two full-time paychecks from
the state. This faculty member also
engages in private practice, he said.
Staff physicians in the Radiology
Department at the medical school have "a
little empire," according to a Shreveport
surgeon. They spend time in hospitals in
East Texas and North Louisiana towns,
and are often "unreachable to medical
students," he said.
Dr. Grulee said the most current draft
of the proposed medical practice plan has
been mailed to local physicians for
review. "Hopefully we can have a draft
ready to submit to university authorities
by March," he said.
"Constructive and productive sug-gestions
on the practice plan are welcome
from area physicians," said Dr. Grulee.