The Clinical Investigator as an Endangered Species

To the Editor: Dr. Wyngaarden's suggestion in the December 6 issue that the clinical investigator be placed on the endangered-species list warrants an afterthought. Certainly, the reports that he cites disclose that the number of M.D.'s entering medical research as a primary career is declining steadily. In addition, the number of scholarships and research awards proffered to encourage M.D.'s to pursue medical research is waning. Dr. Wyngaarden's study also indicates that the number of Ph.D.'s involved in medical research is concomitantly increasing. He implies that the end result of all this will be deleterious to medical progress and medical pedagogy,. . . No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.