An argument for the attendance of clinicians at autopsy.

We recorded the attendance of clinicians at the autopsies they had requested, and following personal notification that the autopsy was in progress. Of 679 residents paged , 37% attended and 63% did not. Of 786 internists paged , 36% attended and 64% did not. Of 58 surgeons, ten were not in the hospital, 35 attended, and 13 did not. With due allowance for reasons that legitimately could interfere with attendance at a labor-intensive and educational procedure requested of a colleague by the physician, these results reflect adversely on motivation. This attitude, more than opposition by the lay public, could explain the languishing autopsy rates.