CHANGING CONDITIONS IN VIENNA

To the Editor:  —Perhaps American physicians are interested in knowing how the war and subsequent events have affected Vienna as a teaching center. One hears conflicting reports in America about the medical teaching situation here. The purpose of this letter is to comment not only on present conditions in Vienna, but also on tendencies which point unmistakably to what the future is likely to bring.Today, Vienna still holds first place in Europe as a graduate medical teaching center. Its organization, personnel and prestige have thus far kept the machine going fairly well from sheer force of its own momentum. But even the casual observer must conclude that its days of leadership are numbered. It cannot escape the distintegrating influences of poverty. The amount and variety of clinical material in some departments, indeed in most departments, have lately suffered a severe slump. I learned today that one clinic, which formerly