Teach Effectively!

Orac, whom regular readers will recognize from a few earlier posts, has a lengthy-but-informative piece about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) that I read a day or so ago. In “The infiltration of woo into mainstream academic medicine: The media notices,” Orac explains that he is glad that some news media are recognizing the fluffy nature of some popular medical treatments.

Along with Dr. R.W. and few others, I’ve made a bit of a name for myself in the medical blogosphere by bemoaning the infiltration of non-science- and non-evidence-based medicine into academia. It’s not a particularly popular viewpoint. The prevailing attitude seems to be: Why be so negative? It’s all good. Moreover, with a credulous media eager to publish stories of “healing” and “humanistic” medicine, those of us who remain skeptical of applying unproven and/or untested remedies in an academic setting, thus giving them the imprimatur of academic medicine and the respect associated with it, are easily painted as dinosaurs, unable to get with the plan, unaccepting of the new order of medicine.

Continue reading ‘Bologna takes a lick’