Academic medicine: one job or three?

Academic medicine consists of three vocations: clinical care, research, and teaching. Many argue that academic medicine is undergoing a crisis. In response to the crisis a debate has been initiated to discuss how to revitalize academic medicine. The debate is to examine "the fundamental nature of academic medicine." The present editorial seeks to explore one problematic feature of academic medicine: the fact that it consists of three vocations. This problematic feature is fundamental to academic medicine.