Viewpoint

Reversing the decline of academic medicine in Europe

In contexts where the abstract and predictive outcomes of theory-driven research from the lab provide little insight for solving practical problems, use-inspired research is argued to shape advances in science by leading more directly to practice-oriented outcomes. We show that in the biomedical sector, basic research conducted by clinical scientists is significantly more likely to exploit prior insights from the applied literature, and triggers relatively more applied and industrial follow-on research compared to a sample of randomly matched articles. However, clinical scientists’ engagement in the development of this type of practice-oriented and use-inspired basic research is limited due to the intensity of their clinical obligations and patient care. The allocation of a unique fellowship that partly releases these clinical scientists from their clinical burden fosters the development of practice-oriented and use-inspired basic science. These clinical scientists tend to publish more and shift their focus towards the development of scientific basic research that integrates insights from bench and bedside.

As the use of imaging continues to increase in medical research, the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) Research Committee and the Wellcome Trust held a joint meeting in 2010 to explore the current issues critical to training the next generation of radiology researchers. It was stated that despite an increase in consultant radiologist numbers, the number of academic posts has declined. This has resulted in radiology lagging behind some of the other specialties in terms of research activity and output. Some of the obstacles arising from the meeting have since been addressed by the RCR. These and other possible solutions that emanated from the interactive sessions include establishing a research culture in radiology departments, establishing a network of research radiologist mentors, improving trainee opportunities, and improving consultant opportunities. The meeting demonstrated the demand and need for extended support for research activity from the RCR. The RCR Academic Committee is formulating recommendations based on these and other sources of evidence. However, it is acknowledged that this comes at a time when national financial resources for research support are severely limited. Research in radiology remains an important part of the future development of the specialty. Supporting the next generation of potential researchers is essential, and this meeting was a means to understand how this might best be achieved.