The translator.

First of all, let me thank you very much indeed for this opportunity to talk with you concerning problems of mutual concern. In view of your current endeavors in the design of a new curriculum, and, more importantly, the premises from which this design emanates, it is clear that at best I may be bringing a few coals to Newcastle. Nevertheless, let me try to formulate with you some of my thoughts concerning medical education in practice today and the role of a particular individual, whom I prefer to call "the translator," in the ever expanding resources and responsibilities with which we as biomedical scientists must live if we are to translate data to the improved care of the ill. We are certainly living at a time when there is a tremendous growth of the biomedical and all the other sciences, when there are rapidly evolving, changing patterns in almost every aspect of our lives, at a time when a population growth produces immense pressures on many facets of our society, and at a time when the poet is about to lose the romantic mystery of his moon. The intricate techniques of automation, electronics, computer science and the cellular and molecular approach to health and disease are just beginning to revolutionize many of our conventional approaches to medical care. All of these present difficulties, but, much more importantly, they present us with magnificent challenges. Nevertheless, one hears comments from disturbed members of our national community relating to losses from what is considered by them to represent the "art of medicine." This frame of reference pre-empted most of a recent issue of a traditionally fine lay periodical. This fear on the part of the lay community is not necessarily unfounded and it would be foolhardy to think that some of us may not rely ever more increasingly on machine-made value judgments, forgetting that ultimately these must derive in great measure from what we feed to the machine. In fact, one tale that you may have heard relates the story of the Dutch scientist who wanted to demon-