A new PhD training track: a proposal to improve basic science teaching.

There has been increasing criticism of medical basic science teaching; much of this has focused on overcrowding of the curriculum, inadequate application to clinical medicine, and the limited commitment of the faculty to teach. We have analyzed some of the factors that may contribute to these complaints, such as the fragmentation of physiology and the conflicting roles of the medical basic scientist. We have also reviewed some previous suggestions for improving basic science teaching. We suggest that a basic scientist with a background of integrative physiology, pharmacology, anatomy, and pathology, with a special emphasis on pathophysiology, would be well qualified to assume an important role in the medical education of the future. Because there is at present no established training program of this type, we have proposed a PhD training track with this objective and have listed some of the advantages and disadvantages of such a program.