Future

It was the farewell party of EL – our professor of rheumatology. The place was far away and JW gave us a ride. On his seven-seat limousine there were also KL, VW, WY and AK.

During the journey, KL shared his view on the future of our medical school.

“You know, patient-oriented studies – especially clinical trials – are getting more and more difficult,” our professor of gastroenterology began, “On one hand, the medical school needs a group of dedicated basic scientists to pursue cutting edge research and ensure an adequate number of high-impact publications.”

We all nodded. This concern has become the Sunday school truth to all of us working in the field of academic medicine.

“For the same reason, traditional clinical academic staffs, which need to accomplish clinical, teaching and research duties, are facing a foreseeable extinction,” our star teacher continued, “After all, it is a mission impossible to excel in all three aspects. Since research has been taken care of by basic scientists, all we need are what commonly known as clinical professors, who have no commitment for research and would focus on patient care and teaching.”