[Cut a long story too short: Challenges in clinical research]

Clinical research reflects a mandatory prerequisite to translate basic research into clinical practice. While a lack of available qualified doctors to fill positions in hospitals as well as in the ambulant sector has prompted political decisions to counteract, Germany has witnessed an insidious deterioration of clinical research over time and compared to other industrialized countries. Measures to prevent an increasing loss of academic profile have to tackle all aspects from undergraduate to postgraduate training to attract highly skilled doctors in sustainable structures to reflourish academic medicine. Cornerstones to achieve these goals involve establishing of structured graduate programs, acknowledgment of time spend in clinical research in residency programs, extra occupational opportunities to achieve dual qualification (e. g. Master programs in clinical research) as well as independent positions with inherent carrier perspectives in academic medicine for doctors interested in clinical and translational research.