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In Reply.
—I must take issue with Dr Giliberti's statement, which implies that advanced technology has diminished the importance of bedside teaching by professors of medicine. The highly skilled and wise physician-professor should not only indicate what technology should be employed or, in the interest of safety and/or economy, deferred. He should also provide an example of physician-patient relationship that informs candidly and produces confidence without the sometimes obnoxious trait of exuding omniscience and omnipotence. This is not easy. Dr Giliberti might be surprised at the number of patients who arrive on their own at a referral center having received sophisticated tests in profusion, but no understanding of their problem.If Dr Giliberti and his colleagues in private practice wish to seize the medical leadership, which is in limbo, I say more power to them. Perhaps some competition would be good for the professors.