Academic medicine in the UK faces serious and immediate problems. It is essential that that the number of clinical academics in all disciplines be increased in order to teach the doctors of the future, and to maintain high-quality medical research which can translate scientific and clinical discoveries into real benefits for patients. This report brings together all 14 Medical Royal Colleges to consider how best to address these issues and to propose solutions. Part 1 considers the challenges that are common to all the Colleges, and makes recommendations designed to increase the recruitment and retention of academic staff, by making an academic career path a more attractive and achievable option.