This could be the future of academic medicine by 2025, according to members of the International Campaign to Revitalise Academic Medicine (ICRAM), launched by the BMJ and partners in November 2003.

Their vision for the future is published simultaneously today by the BMJ (www.bmj.com), the open access international medical journal PLoS Medicine (www.plosmedicine.org) and the Milbank Memorial Fund (www.milbank.org).

In the first scenario, academic medicine flourished in the private sector and medical research, training and service became commercial business activities. But, although overall efficiency and effectiveness improved, equity and innovation suffered.

Academic medicine disappeared altogether in the second scenario. Instead, teaching, learning, and researching were integrated with mainstream health care. Team work fostered, but stability and decision making was threatened.

In scenario three, the public were in charge. They determined research priorities through game shows or citizen's juries and students received most of their training from expert patients. But scientific advances were subject to fads and there was little regulation of health information.

In the final two scenarios, academic medicine engaged fully with all stakeholders and focused on improving global health. Global networks flourished and medical training was energised. But lack of political will and fears of "dumbing down" hampered progress.

"None of these scenarios will come to exist as we have described them, but the future is likely to contain some elements from each of them," say the authors. "Our main hope is that o
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Contact: Paul Ocampo
press@plos.org
415-624-1224
Public Library of Science
4-Jul-2005