Interview with James Boulger

Abstract

James Boulger begins the interview discussing his educational background. He briefly discusses his first academic job at the new Medical College of Ohio at Toledo in the late 1960s and his decision to move to the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UM-D) Medical School in the early 1970s. Boulger describes the work done to get the school ready for the first class of students; the experiences of the charter class; and the experiences of the faculty—including the challenges they encountered—running the medical school in its first few years. He discusses the different expectations and priorities of the UM-Twin Cities Medical School and its faculty compared to the expectations and priorities of the UM-D Medical School and the state’s rural clinicians and legislators. Boulger discusses the move on the UM-D campus to unionize the faculty; the establishment of the first curriculum and the Department of Family Medicine at UM-D Medical School; various UM-D Medical School deans; the decision by the UM-D Medical School to use community physicians as clinical faculty; and the responsibility of a land-grant university to the people of Minnesota. Next, Boulger discusses Robert Carter’s departure as first dean of UM-D Medical School, the appointment of Arthur Aufderheide as interim dean, John LaBree as dean, and Boulger’s term as interim dean. Boulger describes the strategies that were used to recruit students committed to family medicine and rural practice and the strategies used to recruit Native American students to UM-D Medical School; and reflects on the changes in family medicine in rural and urban practice settings over the past forty years, particularly in terms of what procedures family medicine physicians are performing. Boulger goes on to discuss the relationship between UM-D Medical School and the Duluth area hospitals—Miller-Dwan Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, and Saint Luke’s Hospital—and the establishment of the graduate medical education at these hospitals; the relationship of the medical school to the rest of the UM-D campus; and how the UM-D Medical School faculty balance their teaching, research, and service responsibilities and expectations and whether the balance of those expectations changed once the Duluth and Twin Cities campuses merged. Next Boulger discusses his second two tenures as interim dean. During his second stint, Boulger describes dealing with difficult retrenchments, while during his third stint, he describes trying to marshal support to convert UM-D to a four-year medical school. Boulger next discusses the establishment of the Center for Rural Mental Health Studies, telemental health, and telemedicine; and the Rural Medical Scholars Program.