The study (J.J. Smith et al., Advances in Physiology Education, 17:S36-46, 1997) states that the inadequate basic-clinical meshing not only persists in teaching but also is a serious problem in medical research training. We believe that basic science faculty--almost all Ph.D.s--are devoted and competent scientists who have been a key force behind what were probably the greatest advances in the history of medical science. However, in recent years, there has been a marked directional change from human and clinically oriented research to molecular biology. Although the enormous power of the molecular approach is apparent to everyone, the almost total diversion of the study of biological function at this level into molecular biology is detrimental to both medical school teaching and research training.
We believe the teaching difficulty is mainly due to circumstances forced on basic science faculty, particularly the necessity--for funding purposes--to direct their research away from human and clinically ...
