Interface Between Basic Medical Sciences and Their Clinical Branches

THE MISCIBLE substance on the interface of basic science and clinical medicine formed by previous generations of scientists and clinicians is what we call today "modern scientific medicine." Certain segments of knowledge that have been added to the fields of mathematics, physics, and chemistry and almost the total body of knowledge from the more closely related broad fields of anatomy, histology, physiology, bacteriology, and pathology provide most of the factual information from which we diagnose, treat, and prevent disease today. The clinician of today knows from the works of a previous era that the serum of blood normally contains a total of approximately 5 mEq of calcium and 2 mEq of inorganic phosphate per liter. He also knows that there are usually two pairs of parathyroid glands located close to the upper and lower poles on the posterior surface of the thyroid gland, and that they are about 5×5×3 mm