Abstract

I read with interest the HealthcarePapers edition on Academic Health Sciences Centres. As Dean of a Faculty of Health Sciences which incorporates six health professional disciplines and is a partner in an Academic Health Sciences Centre, I was disappointed that the perspectives of those not focused entirely on academic medicine and teaching hospitals were only given fleeting acknowledgement of presence in these partnerships. There is much that needs to be changed if our future health systems are to be maximally efficient and academically viable. Our progress is slow but at least in our region we have entered into broader partnerships than just the one faculty and teaching hospitals pattern. Teaching hospitals and community-based providers and the two faculties (Medicine and Health Sciences) are forging special relationships.

Having said this, I want to congratulate and thank HealthcarePapers for the stimulating and response-provoking articles it publishes.

For more information on HealthcarePapers, "Academic Health Sciences Centres Laid Bare," go to www.healthcarepapers.com.

About the Author

Dr. Denise Alcock
Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa