Burn and start afresh
what should be taught in Physiotherapy
The question of what constitutes a fact or truth is a fundamental one that could be effectively introduced early in our educational system, possibly in the first semester of college.
Consider the term "medical fact." These are statements like blood flowing through veins, the heart having chambers, or the quadriceps being responsible for knee extension. But how can we be certain that they are true? How did this knowledge come into existence, and can it be disputed? If not, what is the process that transforms a statement into an immutable fact?
Sadly we are not taught what’s a fact and how a statement becomes a fact, it leading medicine to be a soft science and us being unaware it is soft science and many a times truth free. with made up facts, for treatment and diagnosis.
Here are a series of statements related to medical science, and the challenge lies in discerning which are true, false, or possibly true.
anterior horn cells don’t regrow
number of muscle fibers don’t increase- when the muscle bulk increases
Ultrasound produces cavitation
exercises should not be done when the patient has acute neck pain
stretching before sports can decrease the risk of injury
exercises reduce disability in patients with low back pain
NDT is the best treatment for cerebral palsy
supraspinatus works from 0 - 90 degree of abduction
TENS is the best treatment for acute pain
Poor posture leads to neck pain
How did you know which of the above statements were true, false or maybe true. What is the “tool” did you use to discern the truth? So, what is the method for separating fact from fiction? Is it merely reading more (i read TENS work from a 500 page book), gaining more experience (i have given TENS to 100s of patients and i know it works), or relying on logical thinking (it activates the sensory fibers and there by closing the gate)? These approaches have their limitations. Reading alone may not necessarily lead to the truth, especially if the source itself is unreliable or biased. Experience, while valuable, doesn't always lead to learning and can sometimes reinforce misconceptions. Logical thinking, while essential, is dependent on what we already "know," which may not necessarily reflect the truth. This vulnerability to misinformation is evident in the persuasive speeches of politicians.
So, how does the medical science gets its facts. what is the methodology? we have very little idea- leading to “schools of thoughts”, approaches and pseudoscience based on eminence rather than facts.
As you are well aware our syllabus is just that- school of thought, which are complete nonsense or nonsense. Then we have diagnostics tests, treatment and much more which are written fact free most of the time.
So, what changes should we bring in our syllabus to introduce our students to epistemology?
I have a simple solution, burn the whole thing and start fresh, starting from whats a fact and how to arrive at it (with different methods)
P. S. Sorry not celebrating on what’s truth and what are the various methods to arrive at it.
Vision....