It would be so much more educational for medical students to do a deep dive into the life cycle of medical ideas generated by “research”. Bias toward publication of positive results leads to hypotheses likely to generate positive results. Then there’s the joy and hope for the new treatment paradigm; with time, data is generated that prov…
It would be so much more educational for medical students to do a deep dive into the life cycle of medical ideas generated by “research”. Bias toward publication of positive results leads to hypotheses likely to generate positive results. Then there’s the joy and hope for the new treatment paradigm; with time, data is generated that provides fodder for comparative studies, which is where negative results can see the light of day. Then and only then, does doubt and realism enter the equation. I can think of many examples, such as gabapentinoids in the perioperative period, where what was once embraced as a game changer is now considered more harmful than beneficial. And yet every surgeon I work with still orders it!
It would be so much more educational for medical students to do a deep dive into the life cycle of medical ideas generated by “research”. Bias toward publication of positive results leads to hypotheses likely to generate positive results. Then there’s the joy and hope for the new treatment paradigm; with time, data is generated that provides fodder for comparative studies, which is where negative results can see the light of day. Then and only then, does doubt and realism enter the equation. I can think of many examples, such as gabapentinoids in the perioperative period, where what was once embraced as a game changer is now considered more harmful than beneficial. And yet every surgeon I work with still orders it!