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JOINT RESOLUTIONS

education and postdoctoral training. Thus the new type
of health practitioner capable of providing primary care
can more rapidly and less expensively provide the
necessary manpower to meet some of the most pressing
needs in primary health care without sacrificing quality,
accountability, or professional responsibility.

Studies of the preferences of the Health Associate
students at The Johns Hopkins University School of Health
Services indicate the majority are orienting their
professional careers to rural locales for their
practices. This is in marked contrast to the findings
among coeval medical students in The Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine, most of whom clearly are
aiming for practice in highly populated urban or suburban
areas.

Thus the nonphysician practitioner of primary care
is seen to be a desirable member of the health care team
by virtue of (1) high quality of services provided, (2)
control of costs for the labor—intensive health industry,
(3) availability of appropriate educational programs, (4)
removal of legal barriers, (5) likelihood of serving in
areas of greatest need, and (6) high levels of
acceptability by patients; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That
this Body recognizes the need for educational programs
for nonphysician practitioners and the need for thorough
study on the impact on the quality of health care
delivered by the health care system; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution shall be
sent to the Secretary of the Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene who shall send copies to the directors of
every hospital, the Executive Director of the Medical and
Chirurgical Faculty, the Chairman of all Health Licensing
Boards, and the Director of all ancillary health
facilities.

Approved May 15, 1975.

No. 76
(House Joint Resolution 110)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

Funding of Special Education