ON THE CRISIS IN BIOMEDICAL EDUCATION - IS THERE AN OVERPRODUCTION OFBIOMEDICAL PHDS

The United States is the world leader in biomedical science (BMS) educ ation and research. This preeminence is reflected in superior medical education, the attraction of U.S. educational institution to foreign v isitors seeking advanced training, and a high rate of transfer of know ledge between basic biomedical. research and the delivery of health ca re at the bedside. The foundation for this excellence and leadership h as been the research carried our by MD and PhD biomedical scientists. It has been suggested that there is now an oversupply of BMS PhDs, and thus that BMS PhD programs should he downsized. Full examination of t he issues involved, including a case study of doctoral graduates and p ostdoctoral fellows at Tulane Medical Center, leads the authors to con clude that a biomedical PhD ''glut'' does not exist at the present tim e, that downsizing training programs would have a serious, long-term n egative impact on biomedical research, and that medical school adminis trators and faculty should resist attempts to reduce biomedical resear ch and training at the local and national level. However, times have c hanged and training programs must evolve to adapt to the technologic c hanges occurring in the workplace. Alternatives, such as new alliances with industry, must be sought to compensate for decreased resources a t federal and institutional levels; new and innovative curricula must be developed to prepare biomedical scientists for nonacademic, as well as academic, job opportunities in the twenty-first century; and medic al center administrators and faculties must work together to increase the visibility of BMS and stress its critical relationship to the rese arch base of the nation.