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January 24, 2008
Knowledge Matters
This is the subtitle of a commentary in the latest JAMA. Written by an affiliate of the ABIM, it is a credible argument for improving the quality of care by assuring that doctors have the necessary knowledge base to make appropriate clinical judgments.
There are several articles he relies on (footnotes) that I would love to chase down if I can find the time and access. And I am in sympathy with his basic argument. I frequently wonder what I am missing, and whether the habits of thinking (including history taking, examination and diagnosis) I have developed over the decades are misleading me.
One very important caveat in all this (which should be a separate post) is that no matter what errors medicine commits or corrects, it all pales in significance to the number of abortions which it continues to commit each year. By any measure of efficacy, medicine will long remain in the negative. Roe v Wade lessened the legal guilt but not the moral, and it allowed increased numbers of men and women to have their children slaughtered. The recent decrease announced probably only reflects the decrease in conceptions last year, not a repentance.
| By Robert Maddox | 12:54 PM