The emerging and rapidly progressing field of precision medicine, in which treatment is tailored to patients on an individual basis, is examined by the authors. Advances in the fields of genetics, proteomics, diagnostic imaging, and several others have allowed physicians to establish treatment options for patients that show greater efficacy and fewer unwanted side effects that can result from administration of broad-spectrum therapy. The authors note that it will likely be difficult for the desires of patients, physicians, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical industries to align. More than likely, there will have to be a joint effort carried out, so that precision medicine can become the norm in patient care. As an emerging field, medical students and other training physicians need to stay well informed, as any changes in regards to precision based medical approaches will likely affect how they practice medicine in the future

Jameson JL, Longo DL. Precision medicine–personalized, problematic, and promising. N Engl J Med. 2015 Jun 4;372(23):2229-34.