Faculty-Practice Plans

The era of large, full-time clinical departments in our medical schools began soon after World War II with the rise of the subspecialties and the rapid expansion of clinical research. Before then, most medical schools had relatively small full-time clinical faculties and relied heavily on the part-time voluntary services of local practitioners to carry the burden of clinical teaching. But during the halcyon days of the 1950s and 1960s the full-time system, nourished by the largess of government and the private foundations, grew until it became the predominant mode of clinical instruction. Funding for research and research training was generous . . .