BMJ  2004;328 (19 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7454.0-h

Editor's choice

Doctors are not scientists

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Some doctors are scientists—just as some politicians are scientists—but most are not. As medical students they were filled full with information on biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, and other sciences, but information does not a scientist make—otherwise, you could become a scientist by watching the Discovery channel. A scientist is somebody who constantly questions, generates falsifiable hypotheses, and collects data from well designed experiments—the kind of people who brush their teeth on only one side of their mouth to see whether brushing your teeth has any benefit. Most doctors follow familiar patterns and rules, often improvising around those rules. In their methods of working they are more like jazz musicians than scientists.

Questioning whether doctors are scientists may seem outrageous, but most doctors know that they are not scientists. I once asked a room of perhaps 150 medically trained educators which of them thought of themselves as scientists. About five put up . . . [Full text of this article]

Richard Smith, editor

rsmith@bmj.com


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This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Smith, R. (2004). Travelling but never arriving: reflections of a retiring editor. BMJ 329: 242-244 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Do doctors need to be scientists?
Abdul M Khan
bmj.com, 18 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Neither scientists nor nutritionists - perhaps artists?
Dr. Herbert H. Nehrlich
bmj.com, 18 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Scientists mind
Lúdvík Ólafsson
bmj.com, 18 Jun 2004 [Full text]
A noteworthy omission
Steven Ford
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Medicine is an art as well as a science
Philip A Branton
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Generalisations and more generalisations
Raymond L. Friedman
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Medical Students - Physician-scientists of Tomorrow
Fawad Aslam
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Doctors as Scientists
Dr Ram K Dikshit
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Jazz Musicians have to study too!
Richard D Kennedy
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Doctors are true scientists
B M Shrestha
bmj.com, 19 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Are doctors not scientists ?
Paras K Pokharel
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"Science is a way of thinking...
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Angel Luis Martinez
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S Gada
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Doctors should have scientific mind NOT only BELIEF in science
Pisut Katavetin
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Doctors and Science
Catherine Gilbert
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Who am I? A personal note!
Zubair Kabir
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Suck it and see
Tom Hughes-Davies
bmj.com, 22 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Doctors need to be critical thinkers
Naeem A Jafarey, et al.
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A doctor is one who gives the right answers
Akheel A Syed
bmj.com, 23 Jun 2004 [Full text]
If only !!
Pat Davis
bmj.com, 23 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Doctors are not Scientists, Scientists are not Doctors
Masum Hossain
bmj.com, 23 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Good lord deliver us
Shyam S Kothari, et al.
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From bench to bedside, and back again
Mr Malcolm A Buchanan, et al.
bmj.com, 23 Jun 2004 [Full text]
But doctors need a scientific outlook
Arun S Nanivadekar
bmj.com, 24 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Emergencies Only, Please
Jane M LORD
bmj.com, 24 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Nonscientist doctors fall prey to medical fraud camoflaged with science
Andrew H. Cutler, et al.
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Do patients fall prey to medical fraud camouflaged with science?
Brian Morgan
bmj.com, 25 Jun 2004 [Full text]
The clinical method is the scientific method applied to the care of a patient
Alfredo D. Espinosa-Brito, et al.
bmj.com, 27 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Everyone a scientist, rarely
Robert A. Da Prato
bmj.com, 28 Jun 2004 [Full text]
But we still need science
David L J Freed
bmj.com, 29 Jun 2004 [Full text]
Clinicians as inadvertent scientists?
Eric J Will
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Doctors do know science
Marwan M Azar
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