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Am I alone in my cynical view that "evidence based medicine" is too
often an extremely laborious way of proving what is already generally
known and accepted?
I am not a paediatrician or a GP but I answered the questions posed
at the start of this article on the basis of my general medical knowledge
and standard A&E teaching. After what would have been several hours
of computer time and critical literature review my answers were
demonstrated to have been right.
The same has just happened with the subsequent article on childhood
enuresis, a topic with which I have no professional contact at all.
Among the stressed and overworked doctors who feature regularly in
the BMJ where are those with 2 or 3 hours to spare to justify the care
provided in each of their 5 minute consultations? And would not such time
be better spent lengthening the consultations or just getting these poor
sad computer obsessed people a life!
self-evident evidence
Dear Sir,
Am I alone in my cynical view that "evidence based medicine" is too
often an extremely laborious way of proving what is already generally
known and accepted?
I am not a paediatrician or a GP but I answered the questions posed
at the start of this article on the basis of my general medical knowledge
and standard A&E teaching. After what would have been several hours
of computer time and critical literature review my answers were
demonstrated to have been right.
The same has just happened with the subsequent article on childhood
enuresis, a topic with which I have no professional contact at all.
Among the stressed and overworked doctors who feature regularly in
the BMJ where are those with 2 or 3 hours to spare to justify the care
provided in each of their 5 minute consultations? And would not such time
be better spent lengthening the consultations or just getting these poor
sad computer obsessed people a life!
Janet Porter
Competing interests: No competing interests