eComment: Yes we can. But should we?

Yes, We Can! (Should We?).

Yes we can, but do we?

In recent decades, a curious demographic phenomenon has emerged in US science. A high and increasing proportion of PhD students and postdocs, especially in the life sciences, are drawn from beyond the shores of North America. The reasons for this are undoubtedly complex. One factor is the widespread perception in the USA that a career in academic science is marked by low salaries, poor job secu...

We Can, but Should We?

We can, but should we? After recently reflecting upon our profession as pediatric critical care physicians , I concluded that this one complex question gets asked many times throughout the day – or at least it should. A recent report discussed an emerging paradigm in pediatric critical care medicine (1). With more and more chronic patients filling our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), perha...

Chemotherapy in elderly small-cell lung cancer patients: yes we can, but should we do it?

BACKGROUND Twenty percent of all newly diagnosed patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) are >75 years. Elderly patients may show more toxicity due to co-morbidity. We evaluated motives for adherence to treatment guidelines, completion of treatment and toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS Population-based data from patients aged ≥75 years and diagnosed with SCLC in 1997-2004 in The Netherlands ...

Advocacy: yes we can.

It is an honor and privilege to address you as president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. For more than 100 years, this organization has represented the best of physician-scientists. Since it is now 2012, there is the possibility that this could be the last ASCI presidential address. But we will assume the Mayans miscalculated and that we should look to the future. With the A...