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])
