I agree with Chris Green, and would add - having worked with many psychiatrists over the years - that the predominant model in medicine tends to learning by authority (one's supervisor/chief resident, etc. says "When you find diagnosis X, prescribe Y unless co-occurring conditions Z are present"). Some have (tongue and cheek) referred to this model as "eminence-based practice" to distinguish it from "evidence-based practice." ...Scott
Scott O. Lilienfeld, Ph.D. Professor Editor, Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice Department of Psychology, Room 473 Psychology and Interdisciplinary Sciences (PAIS) Emory University 36 Eagle Row Atlanta, Georgia 30322 [email protected] (404) 727-1125 Psychology Today Blog: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-skeptical-psychologist 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-140513111X.html Scientific American Mind: Facts and Fictions in Mental Health Column: http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciammind/ The Master in the Art of Living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his intellectual passions. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him - he is always doing both. - Zen Buddhist text (slightly modified) From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 1:59 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] *Nature* on APA and clinical psychology Marc Carter wrote: I certainly don't want my doctor choosing a medicine on the basis of anything other than what's been shown to work. Why should we expect less of therapists? Marc, I think you've hit the nail on the head, though inadvertently. There are many, many physicians out there who, although they scraped through their initial medical training, are not able (or wanting) to read and evaluate new medical research as it is published. They rely mainly on their past experience, discussions with colleagues, and intuition (just like many clinical psychologists). The pharmaceutical industry figured this out a long time ago and exploits it to their advantage by sending physicians advertising in the form of easy-to-read read promotional literature that is thinly disguised as research summaries. And they send them a lot of "samples" to give to their patients (to get them in the habit of prescribing the brand), and they throw luxurious promotional parties that are thinly disguised as confernces. Do I think that the original training of physicians is more scientifically rigorous than that of clinical psychologists? Of course, but I also think that medical science, in general, is more rigorous then psychological science as well, so the difference in training regimens is hardly surprising. The real issue here, I think, is that there is a clinical ethos (whether in psychology or medicine) that is orthogonal to (or perhaps even somewhat negatively correlated with) the research ethos (and lets be clear -- there are lots of superior researchers who, despite their great knowledge, would make horrible clinicians). It is relatively rare to find an individual who brings the best of both together. That is where the problems lies. Regards, Chris -- Christopher D. Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments). --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
