Genesis of the “Harvard Manual”

I had now completed my third year of medical school and was beginning my fourth year, it was 1976. I definitely wanted to complete my medical education in four years and get back to Milwaukee…don’t ask me to explain that. OK, I will…its called family. During this time, I had already completed the requirements for a MPH (Masters’ of Public Health) from the Harvard School of Public Health, and had participated in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. This had allowed me to experience courses and classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well. But, now I had three years of solid MCAT preparation and the creation of a set of materials for that preparation. I would not be around for the summer of 1977 to teach the new group of the Harvard Health Careers Summer Program (HCSP) the MCAT prep…I just felt that all of this effort COULD NOT be lost.

Also, I knew I would have to move my family, which now included four children, my wife and my mother who came out to help us, back to Milwaukee. I had already decided to do my residency there. So, I would need money and that meant I would need work. So, I went to Dr. Wallace and made a proposal and a plea. I would write a manual that would collect and summarize what I had been doing over the last three years that I could leave behind for others to use and teach MCAT Prep.

Dr. Wallace liked the idea. He negotiated with his director, Dr. Crooks, to secure $5000.00 to pay me to write the book. I would retain rights to it, but Harvard and Dr. Wallace would also be able to use it at will for their programs. We did this in the summer of 1976. So, now I had to complete my senior year of electives at Harvard Medical School and write a MCAT prep book. I was glad to have the opportunity.