'1 Friday, ’oclnlier 20. m1 SCARLET AND BLACK Page Thro- A 9th FSR SIQK SENSE? By DON WINNEY After awkwardly groping in my last two articles for some kind of grand catharsis of pity and nausea. I thought in this third and final article of the Dr. Kildare trilogy I would ap- peal to the intellectual that lurks in all of us somewhere between Hurling and the North Lounge. I want to examine the medical problem at Grinnell and do What most critics abhor doing—suggest a possible soiu~ florid The main problem with Grin< hell's medical help is that the college has little or no control over‘it. If the student is im- fortunate enough to contract more than a cold, he is re- ferred by the health center to any one of several town doc- tors who somehow have been apportioned a share in the stu- dent business. That doctor may or may not be competent but in any event he examines the student and then applies to the insurance company that carries the college health insurance and receives from it a standard fee. (In one case two years ago the fee was eight dollars for two minutes' time; the time was insufficient.) The student receives a re- nelpt from the insurance com- any and the case is closed. n other words. the town doc- tor, always busy with his town patients who provide the bulk of his business and are an un- dertandahly important part of his income, can nevertheless in a year’s time accrue a healthy—is that the word?— suppiementary income from his student patients. And with that side business. that fixed income that no one will ever question, there is always the temptation. whether realized or not, to slight students and spend more time with that elastic portion HAMMAN'S APPAREL FASHIONS FOR YOU Your Headquarters for Shapp and Smart Sportswear Name Brands You Know Terry & MaoShore SKIRTS-SIacks-Swaaien Mix and Match JANE COLIN AILEEN LAMPL DAVENSHIRE MISS PAT JOYCE Shop Hammdn's First For Value 5. Quality of his income—his town pa- tients. The doctor not only maina tains but expands his practice. for like most small towns. Grinnell is a doctor‘s market. A thriving practice is possible if the doctor concentrates on faithfully caring for town pa- tients. His time is understand ably crowded; his town patients are important. So he can afford to look at the transient student, that adolescent hypochondriac plagued with problems of love and gradepoint, with a certain disdain. He can expect to hear certain common complaints from students who wander into his office when he is so busy. He can learn to ignore those com- plaints. He can learn to ask the simple questions that ter< minate an appointment. “Do you have a test tomorrow?" is one. or “Aren't you just worried about your grades?" Or he might ask the ultimate question to a Student concerned with back trouble. for example: “Are you having emotional problems? Perhaps you need a psychiatrist." He can then dis< miss the student assured of his eight dollars or whatever and look after his town patient whose future business with him is not quite as assured as the student." And what of the student? Usually his illness isn't serious enough that such medical in- difference will cause permanent damage A few days and one is generally well. But in those rare cases where damage does occur, permanent or temporary, how does one prove incompet- ence? It is difficult to do so legally; it is quite messy 1e» gally. But more than that, it is simply difficult to know some- times whether the damage in- curred could have been averted. It is sometimes impossible to know In cases of sudden in- jury or illness the student has no recourse but to place his faith in the competence oi near- by physicians. And if that faith is unjustified, then What? But. someone will ask. is it really as bad as all that in the town of Grinnell? Well, see for yourself. That question and answer, however, is really ir- relevant. The fact is the col- lege has little control over that answeri it runs a competent health service—but only that. But how is the college going to assure its students that they will always have a competent physician? Or is medicai un- certainty a basic part of a Grinnell liberal arts education? One possible solution to the pmblem is simple but—as sim- ple solutions may be~expensive. The college could hire its own physician on a fulltime basis with an ample salary. The phy- sician would care exclusively for all students, for the faculty and their families, and also supervise the present health center. The physician would thus be assured a large enough cli< enteie—and the students would always be assured competent medical help in any emergency. or course, there is a great dif- ficulty in this proposal—finding such a physician. The admin< istration recognizes the medi- cal problem at Grinnell and in now considering this and other suggestions. Considering the problem. how- ever, is not necessarily going to solve it. Something must be done. The inadequate medical service in Grinnell has long been acknowledged regretfully, jokingly. by faculty and students alike. A college that is raising money for a PE complex can certainly afford to do something about its medical service. The question is whether it has the will to do it—to give the med- Ical problem a lu'ghenough prlority that it can be solved soon. One can only hope it will be solved before we memorial- ize an unwelcome martyr. Our Representatives on Campus South North Smith Langcin Ruwson Gates 8 Clark Dibble Cowles East West Salesman Murry Nelson Dick Lamb Tom Lower John Pittman Rich Mc Ginn leve Mc Dowell Al Cloud Kent Thomson Don Peterson Greg Rankin Poll Covcinaugh South Campus Marilyn Gray — Jo Ellen Spriggs Campus Representative — John Pilimom BATES FLOWERS 'IOIZ BROAD 235-3191 @IIIIQ \ALWAYS FlFlST QUALITY COLD WEATHER NEEDS Men’s Western Jackets . . . . . . . 17.98 Ladies’ Plastic Stretch Gloves . . . . . 77‘ Knee High Socks.9io ii .........‘i Men’s Gloves. Lined — Now 2.98 - 3.98 Stock Now and Get Ready For Cold Weather 3' ..." Look, I've got to be up early in the Intramural Dart Ton. 'Ml me, Lesion what is all thir going to got your Knock it of}, Lester. I'm trying to get some sleep. 3. “i may: Why couldn't i luv. roamed with I run person a. It‘: Already gotten me 1 mt job with E nimble. éhlllengin wor , Good pg. 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