Ein Kommentar zur klinischen Forschung in Deutschland am Beispiel der gynäkologischen Onkologie : Wege aus einer Sackgasse

Clinical research in Germany has serious deficiencies. In comparison to basic research, clinical studies are generally considered to be of secondary importance in terms of scientific qualification and career matters. All hospitals lack appropriate facilities and specialised teams for carrying out clinical studies. In addition, cooperation and communication between the university centers is also unsatisfactory, resulting in a myriad of small-scale studies without significant impact. A debate on this situation has recently been started in the media, but not yet in our boards and journals. In the present paper we try to analyse the situation in gynaecology and obstetrics and propose solutions to improve clinical research. The following proposals are made: immediate start of a critical and thorough discussion of deficiencies, real improvement of cooperation between the centers, monitoring according to GCP and external referees for most/all studies, establishment of evaluation criteria for scientific qualification, more stringent evaluation standards for accepting papers in German OB/GYN journals. In the near future young clinicians could be motivated to do clinical research only if major changes in concept and infrastructure are achieved.