The Physician-Investigator and His Patients

The public image of the research physician is that of a cool professional, carrying out his activities with effortless detachment and equanimity. Many people, including medical professionals, believe that because the clinical investigator's patients are also his research subjects, he is less emotionally involved in the doctor-patient relationship than is the "pure clinician." Such onlookers would contend that the "use" of patients as human subjects implies a relatively impersonal, instrumental association.