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HealthSciences Report TOMORROW' S HEALTH CARE Summer 1993 FROM THE EDITOR Question marks motivate scientists and researchers; physicians and nurses listen carefully for quotation marks. Although punctuation is often considered the province of editors, we all depend upon it for structure and understanding. Health- care reform is no exception. Even though the deadline for releasing the plan by Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Health- care Reform Task Force had been postponed as Health Sciences Report went to press, we know the plan will have few periods. The issue is too volatile for reformers to brave that finality. Over the next several years, the periods likely will evolve into commas as the plan is modified; commas will become semicolons as conditional agreements are drafted. And what of question marks? Health- care reform is riddled with too many uncertainties to eliminate them. We have chosen several of these questions that pertain directly to medical education and teaching hospitals to explore in Health Sciences Report. Managed care may guarantee that all Americans receive basic health care, but will it ensure the survival of teaching hospitals? Statistics prove that medical schools are graduating too many students who want to pursue careers as specialists, but can the curriculum be revised to encourage new physicians to choose primary care? Preventive medicine may be a key to reducing medical bills, but if educators can't define it precisely, can students learn about it and physicians practice it? Although we are inundated with health- care reform articles in both profes-sional and general publications, we believe we have an obligation to consider these selected questions in Health Sciences Report. They will not be answered in the first, second or possibly even third revision of our nation's health- care system. But more importantly, these issues need to be addressed by the aca-demic institutions that not only will be greatly affected by health- care reform, but also will be among the innovators. Revision requires a redirection of think-ing, an expansion of our perceptions. We in academic health sciences centers are poised to fulfill the role of revisionists. As we educate future health- care professionals, we can delve into the fundamental questions underlying the restructuring of health care and provide a forum for the issues. Only then can anyone really begin thinking about replacing the questions marks of health-care reform with periods, n MjajJLJM^ II Susan Sample 1993 HEALTH SCIENCES REPORT H e a d l i n e s . A G l a n c e Back. 2 6 HEALTH SCIENCES REPORT UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Vol. 17, No. 2 |
