[Research conditions at the preclinical medical, odontological and pharmaceutical fields]

The Danish Medical Research Council has recently published a report (in Danish) entitled "Research Conditions in the Pre-clinical and Dental Institutes of the Health Science Faculties and the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences". According to this report, the Danish educational institutions within health sciences are facing a major generational change among the scientific staff within the coming 5-15 years. It is therefore worrying that young physicians, dentists and pharmacists refrain from choosing a university research career. Possible explanations include more attractive working conditions, salaries, and career possibilities outside universities. The analyses describe a number of problems regarding this matter and outline how the situation might be improved. The Council recommends that to ensure a future optimal staff balance, focus should be placed on recruitment of researchers. It is important that the future scientific staff also includes a substantial number who possess the specific education provided by the faculty. The staff should be made up of a mix of researchers with knowledge about the nature and practice of their specific discipline and researchers with other scientific backgrounds in the health sciences. It is this interplay between the basic and clinical disciplines that must be consolidated in order to meet the future challenges. The interdisciplinary nature of Danish health science has undoubtedly contributed to placing the Danish health care services in the international front line.