CLINICAL INVESTIGATION - PAST, PRESENT, A ND FUTURE

In this editorial the author examines briefly the past, present and fu ture of clinical investigation in general and particularly in Switzerl and, where the same problems are encountered as in other European coun tries and North America. The main problems reside in the fragmentation of internal medicine into subspecialties with their own separate meet ings and journals, at the expense of multidisciplinary sources of info rmation on medical progress, thus widening the gap between the practit ioners and the scientific community. Through examples, it is pointed o ut that the progression of medical knowledge follows the path from bas ic research in biochemistry, cellular biology, animal experiments, cli nical investigation and finally clinical medicine not unidirectionally but bidirectionally. Thanks to the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Medical Schools of the five Universities and many private foundat ions, a considerable effort has been made in past decades to foster ba sic and clinical research, resulting in a most favorable position for our country on the international scene. There is a fear that political and administrative decision could jeopardize the present situation an d imperil the future. Finally, citing Osler from his work ''Aequanimit as'', the author stresses that ''the true test of a nation's life... i s to be found in its intellectual and moral standards'', and that ''th e measure of the value of a nation to the world is neither the bushel nor the barrel, but mind''.