Once upon a time, a person could do a medical degree and then choose to work in science. Physically doing labwork aswell as being a group head or even the director of an institute. They could even come up with the method for producing a vaccine against cervical cancer and sell the patent. licensing. These "medico's" prove to be quite good at research, for the most part, due to the ability to look at thigs from different perspectives. Yeah there are a lot of tosses that think they can work in science because they are doctors, but the good ones are really good. Nowadays, you need to pursue different paths. You need science, honours, sometimes masters, then a phd. To be a 'group head' you need publications, a good standing record and lots of ass kissing. The divide between science and medicine is increasing. There is a great divide between those pursuing direct treatment of individuals and those searching for an idea as to how the bigger picture works. One is not better than the other, but there is a lot of negative tention between the two. In Aus/US/UK etc this is particularly true. The lack of communication accelerates the negativity one shares with the others. People need to realise the benefit of intertwining the two disciplines. A lot of Euro countries still pursue it, why not the others. Now that doesn't even touch on the government pressure to provide a "translational" or clinical outcome, and the shit clinical treatments that are being pushed out the door without fulling understanding the reason as to how it works. But that is another story, along with China's sheer dominance over the number of publications being released. With proper guidance, china can be an impressive force in the scientific community.