Hi Is there any evidence Louis that your physicians had "no interest in research" early on in their medical and pre-med training? I would suspect that most physicians are indeed very interested in research and science more generally (although perhaps not in actually being researchers or basic scientists). Otherwise it is difficult to understand their excellent performance in scientific disciplines during high school and pre-med days, perhaps even before they plan to enter medicine. It is also not the case that practicing physician and medical researcher are mutually exclusive. Indeed, the two are closely intertwined at many institutions (e.g., teaching hospitals, major medical clinics, ...). As for the yellowed lecture notes, one of the characteristics of well-founded science is that it does produce truths that are unlikely to be overturned or changed. Don't engineers still learn Newtonian mechanics? Have the general principles (not specifics) of Darwinian evolution changed? When I teach statistics, I do use new tools (e.g., simulations), but the content of what I teach is largely (not entirely) unchanged from 30 years ago or more. Was the chemistry you learned (i.e., content) dated, or just the lecture notes? Given your allusion to China, how would you have felt if your condition revealed itself in China and some traditional practitioner wanted to re-align your Qi, arguing that they had "no interest in research" and Eurocentric medicine, preferring the time-honoured ways of Chinese tradition? First plane home? Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] Department of Psychology University of Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 CANADA
>>> "Louis Schmier" <[email protected]> 13-Jun-09 9:11 AM >>> Mike, (Palij), I'm not sure what you're really saying about what I said or whether you read closely what I said. I'm not disagreeing with you. My life was saved by non-researchers using the discoveries and techniques and technologies of researchers. Of course there's a causative connection. There's no argument there whether I'm an historian or otherwise. That's common sense that doesn't require a rocket scientist to understand. I'm offering my experiences and all the in-the-trenches physicians I know both professionally and personally only to offset the other Mike's gross generalizations that seem to disparage those who don't engage in the actual research to segregate people into clear cut categories of "wise" and "unwise" or "proper thinking" and "improper thinking," "independent thinkers" and "gullible suckers." And yeah, I'm living proof, as are millions of others, of what I'm saying. You shouldn't use the anecdotal club to disclaim what I'm saying. Again, all I'm saying is that being up on and utilizing new findings due to research is vastly different from applying such research results. Do some non-researchers ignore new findings? Are some not up on their field? Of course. So, what's new about that. In my day as a college student, we used to joke about our professors, some of whom taught chemistry and biology, about using yellowing lecture notes. And, I know some doctors like that who I wouldn't take my hamster to for treatment. And, just because I am an historian doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to research and non-research. Like Bob, I, too, engaged in extensive scholarly grant securing, research, and publication to the tune of becoming the authority in my field until 15 years ago when I changed my focus to concentrate on teaching, learning what is being learned about learning, and applying it in my ever-changing pedagogy to experiment with, adapt to, adopt, accommodate and apply new findings such that in recent brain research. I've had my say on this line. Anything else would be redundant. Got to attack the weeds in my garden that took over while I was teaching for the past month in China. Make it a good day. --Louis-- Louis Schmier http:/www.therandomthoughts.com Department of History Valdosta State University Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\ (229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\____/\ \/\ / \ \__ \/ / \ /\/ \ \ /\ //\/\/ /\ \_ / /___\/\ \ \ \/ \ /\"If you want to climb mountains \ /\ _/ \ don't practice on mole hills" -/ \ --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
