Apparently, in developing and in well-developed societies we are confronted with a crisis of academic medicine in all aspects: health care, teaching, and research. Health care providers in teaching hospitals are under pressure to generate revenues, academic research is pressed to keep pace with institutions devoted solely to research, and teaching is often understood not as privilege and honor but as burden and nuisance. The key problem and the principal cause of the crisis are low interest of the best young graduates to follow an academic career in a world where the benefits and values of the private sector are prevailing. Confronted with these circumstances and the continuous perils of permanent brain-drain, we developed an innovative concept of "shared employment' where two academic institutions (one in a developed and one in a developing country) will collaborate in development and support of fresh talents, building elite academic staff. Most academic exchange programs developed so far have proved to be ineffective and of poor vitality, in spite of loud exclamations, high expectations, and a huge amount of good will involved. In contrast, the suggested cooperation will be based exclusively on mutual interest and clearly defined benefits for all involved parties.