The Newborn: Saving lives and IQ points
“Too many medical students and too few teachers." According to Richard L. Schreiner, MD, former chair of the IU School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, this was why the department began videotaping lectures on the care of newborns.
In the 1970s, neonatal-perinatal medicine was a new subspeciality of pediatrics; the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Riley Hospital for Children was staffed by just three neonatologists, who also taught rotating groups of six students during their one-week newborn rotation.
“With 300 medical students we were teaching about 50 weeks a year, so there was no way we could give five or six lectures every week on the most common topics,” Schreiner said. “I wanted to do videos with accompanying handouts.”
After consulting with IU School of Medicine’s Medical Educational Resources Program (MERP), production of the first teaching videos began right away. Schreiner was the instructor and host, welcoming experts like Patricia A. Keener, MD (director of pediatrics and nurseries at Community Hospital and clinical associate professor of pediatrics at IU School of Medicine), who spoke on the routine care of the newborn, and Tony Goodrich (chief technician in the Department of Respiratory Therapy at Riley Hospital for Children), who addressed the topic of oxygen equipment. Other topics included technique of physical examination, determining gestational age, clinical appearance of newborns with respiratory distress and hypoglycemia.
Remarking on the handouts that accompanied the instructional videos, Schreiner said, “The handouts eventually evolved into our book, ‘Care of the Newborn,’ written by neonatal faculty, fellows and general peds [pediatrics] faculty. It was published in 1981 by the Raven Press, and was quite popular because it only included the basics that could be learned by a student or resident in a short period of time.”
Validation of the effectiveness of what became the “The Newborn” learning package came in its first year, when Indiana students scored higher than the national average on neonatal sections of the National Board of Medical Examiner’s test; prior to its creation, Indiana scores in the neonatal sections were below the national average.
In 1977, WAT 21 (IU’s first Instructional Television Fixed Service station) premiered “The Newborn” series live as a continuing medical education offering, alongside similar productions like “Grand Rounds in Surgery” and “Examination of the Personality.”
“We did this through WAT 21’s closed circuit hook-up to the larger hospitals in the state,” remarked Schreiner. “Our target audience was all medical disciplines caring for pregnant women and newborns. Our remote viewers could ask questions and offer comments over the special ‘talkback’ telephones.”
Indiana hospitals created such a high demand for the tapes on the free loan Videotape Mailing Network that some expressed interest in purchasing key titles for their own libraries. After producing its seventeenth tape, the Section of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine decided to make “The Newborn” tapes available for sale nationwide. The cover of the sales brochure featured a screaming newborn and the statement: “Every physician and nurse caring for pregnant women and newborns must be capable of recognizing illness and instituting therapy. All the intensive care in the world cannot undo hypoxic or asphyxic brain damage that has already occurred.”
Ultimately, more than 30 U.S. hospitals, medical schools and nursing schools incorporated “The Newborn” learning package into their educational programs. Physicians, nurses and educators alike shared how the tapes impacted their students and their work.
A registered nurse and perinatal educator in Alabama sent a note of gratitude after purchasing “The Newborn” tapes: “We have an outreach program that works with nurses and physicians in 21 hospitals in 13 counties of north Alabama. I wanted you to know how much each and every group enjoyed the lectures. Not only are they interesting and informative, but the information pretty much correlates with what our neonatologist does and teaches. She…says the lectures are excellent.”
Years later, when Schreiner was chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, his reputation as an uninhibited and informal instructor preceded him on a professional visit to a neighboring institution: “I was an external reviewer of the chair of pediatrics at the University of Iowa,” Schreiner explained. “When I was interviewing their director of neonatology, he told me they always knew when the junior medical students were watching our video ‘Physical Exam of the Newborn’ because they would start laughing. When I was demonstrating the physical exam, the newborn boy started to pee, and I said ‘well, his plumbing works’ and continued with the physical exam.”
Raising funds for cancer research at Riley
MERP productions also made an impact beyond the classroom and clinic. In 1978, a group of Riley parents, many having lost a child to cancer, organized the Riley Cancer Research for Children (RCRC) fundraising group. RCRC’s purpose was to raise funds for pediatric cancer research at Riley Hospital. A statewide RCRC public awareness and fundraising campaign featured two television spots written and produced by MERP. RCRC parents hand-delivered the tapes to commercial TV stations throughout the state; the campaign ultimately raised over $100,000 in two years.Public education and awareness of mental illness
In addition to raising funds, MERP productions also raised awareness of mental illness and mental health care via three audiotaped and photographed public forums. Held in 1976 as part of an Indianapolis-area U.S. bicentennial celebration, the forums were combined into a slide/audio program that would continue to be used in community discussions to foster educate the public on mental illness and patients’ rights.
First statewide telecast of a public official’s press conference
In 1971, the MERP television studio was the site of Indiana’s first statewide telecast of a public official’s press conference. Governor Otis R. Bowen and local media were hosted in the studio, and reporters at reception sites around the state used the State University Voice Network talkback system to submit questions. The Indiana Higher Education Telecommunications System transmitted the live signal via its network of leased telephone lines. A second, similarly produced press conference was hosted at MERP in 1973, and the governor’s office also made use of this arrangement to update the public after Governor Bowen underwent carotid artery surgery.
From improving neonatal outcomes to advancing public understanding and fundraising, MERP’s work saved lives and shaped clinical practice far beyond the IU School of Medicine campus, demonstrating the school’s long-held commitment to innovation in health care and education.
Thank you to the following individuals for contributing their time and expertise to develop this blog series:
- Sharon Chenoweth Greene, TV Production Assistant, 1968-1974 and WAT 21 Station Manager, 1974-1980, Medical Television Facility, Medical Educational Resources Program.
- Kim M. Denny, MSEd, CHCP, Director, Office of Continuing Education in Healthcare Professions, Indiana University School of Medicine.
- Richard L. Schreiner, MD, Edwin L. Gresham Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine; Retired Chairman, Department of Pediatrics Indiana University School of Medicine; Retired Physician-in-Chief; Chairman, Riley Hospital Historic Preservation Committee
