Why is the Clinician Scientist Important for Health Research, Health Education and Health Care?
There is no doubt that the clinician scientist is an integral and active contributor to the health research, health education and health care enterprise. History shows time and time again that clinician scientists perform outstanding research. They have a proven track record of performance and have contributed immensely to our understanding of disease and disease processes. Clinician scientists directly study patients and human subjects and utilize laboratory tests to formulate hypothesis about disease mechanisms, pathogenesis, and novel interventions. Hypothesis made at the bedside are then tested at the bench. Some of their research work is descriptional (i.e., describing a process), while other work is experimental (i.e., investigating an intervention that is meant to alter a control or baseline condition). Their success as researchers is attributed to their rare quality of being able to work in both the clinical and discovery realms, and to study complex human models of disease tha
