I don't think a physician needs to be a medical researcher to be a good physician.
To me, this again seems like this condescending attitude among at least some people in "scientific psychology". That is, if you don't do research: you won't be able to think properly, you won't be up on stuff within your field, you won't be able to assess research any better than a grade school kid, you will be an easy mark for any extremist views, etc. etc. Never mind that most people in "scientific psychology" couldn't make the med-school cut no matter how hard they tried. Perhaps psychological education should include a class in humility --Mike On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 10:15 AM, Mike Palij <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:43:41 -0700, Louis Schmier wrote: > >Mike, must you be a medical researcher--beyond keeping up on > >your reading and training--to be a good physician? I think not. > > Louis, > A physician does not have to be a medical researcher but a physician > should be a critical thinker and, in some sense of word, wise. > > I wonder about physicians who have no interest in medical research > because I'd worry about the extent to which they have critically > evaluated the medical knowledge they're using to treat a person. > Is this knowledge based on research evidence or hunches or voices > that come in the night speaking the "truth"? > > If a physician does not rely upon research results as a guide for their > medical treatment, what do they rely upon? Conform to the common > practice of other physicians, even if this practice has no demonstrated > benefit? I think that a physician who has no interest in research will > be less concerned with evidence-based medicine. Consider the table > at the following website and some of the articles cited though these > are somewhat dated (see www.cochrane.org for current info on > what works): > http://www.shef.ac.uk/scharr/ir/percent.html > > Something to think about. > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
