Academic Medicine—The Elephant in the Room

The war on disease has been a primary animating purpose of higher education and the partnership with the public ever since Vannevar Bush wrote the influential paper, Science: The Endless Frontier, that led to the formation of the federal funding research enterprise. The academic medicine function of universities is politically popular and often seen as separate from the ideas that obtain in undergraduate education. Nonetheless, it is important for presidents and trustees to see the relationship closely. The governance of academic medicine is complex and can involve interlocking lay boards and tricky relationships with the board, chancellor or president, and provost.