`Nova' studies Harvard's new way of training doctors

Many of us, as Billy Joel once observed, live lives filled withpressure - meeting deadlines, or shouldering the responsibility forlarge sums of money, or tackling complex legal problems, orprotecting the streets in squad cars.

One of the more pressure-laden experiences one can face is themonumental task of becoming a physician. And that's the subject of"Can We Make a Better Doctor?" (a "Nova" program, airing from from 8to 9 tonight on WTTW-Channel 11).

If you've ever spoken to a doctor about the rigors of medicalschool, internship and years of residency - or if you ever at leastwatched an episode of "St. Elsewhere" - you should be aware of theincredible demands on a fledgling doctor's time, not to mention thealmost sadistic tensions involved with competing in the classroom.

"Can We Make a Better Doctor?" focuses on a revolutionary changein the approach toward training future physicians, applied by theHarvard Medical School. Tonight's PBS program marks the first ofmany to follow over the next 10 years, as "Nova" will follow thefortunes of six current first-year medical students.

The early years of medical school traditionally have stressedintensive classroom work relating to the basic sciences. The systemwas designed virtually as a weeding-out process, a series ofeducational hurdles confronting each student.

This year, however, Harvard introduced the "New Pathway."First-year students still take science courses, but they also areintroduced immediately to real-life clinical experiences, examiningand treating patients under the strict supervision of licenseddoctors.

The "New Pathway" is an educational system created to reduce themassive amounts of information that cramming medical students havebeen forced to absorb, however briefly. Sooner or later, studiessuggest, students forget 90 percent of crammed information.

In the final analysis, it's hoped, Harvard's "New Pathway" willtrain a new generation of doctors, who have a better understanding ofthe science of medicine as well as a better feel for the humanisticside of the profession.

This new approach to medical training is similar to what manylaw students confront: a sort of Socratic method with hands-onexperience, small tutorial groups and classic classroom instruction.

Will it work? That's what "Nova" will study over the next 10years as the program tracks the progress of six students from diversebackgrounds.

While Harvard is trying to relieve the tensions of medicalschool, it has not been totally successful. These six students,viewers will learn tonight, are grappling with more than the strainsof learning. There's also the specter of the $185,000 debt they mustpay for their medical education at Harvard.

Now that's pressure! Rating: (STAR) (STAR) (STAR) 1/2