Pharmacology in the new era of higher education: view from the USA

We are witnessing great changes in higher education in the USA, with profound implications for all of the biomedical sciences, including pharmacology. Higher education from 1950 to approximately 1980 witnessed expansion of scientific knowledge and expertise, increased numbers of health professional schools, more revenues for support of education and research, creation of new research institutes and growth of academic departments. We have now entered into a new era characterized by continuing expansion of knowledge, but with static or diminishing sizes and possibly numbers of schools and institutes, shrinkage of revenues, substitution of expertise and consolidation of departments. There have been many worthwhile scientific advances that should lead to new directions in education and research, but there are few resources available for supporting these new educational and research ventures. This article by Thomas Burks is adapted from the annual Croker Lecture, which was delivered at the 1994 meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.