why yes, doctors do need science classes
Via one of the web’s most popular skeptical surgeons, Orac, comes a bizarre story about a medical school at which humanities majors can become fully fledged MDs without going through all those annoying science classes or taking the specialized entrance exams for would-be physicians. The rationale of the program? The extensive scientific education required to apply to med school might be discouraging students from applying for medical training. One student is even quoted saying that she considers the societal implications of an epidemic to be more important than the biology of the diseases. Wow. Just wow. I completely second Orac’s sentiments that she should not be going to med school with an attitude like that, just like I would discourage an undergrad in philosophy from pursuing an AI program with no interest in how to write the code to make the work, considering the implications of the software and hardware to be more important then their design.
Of course I know there are huge differences between building or maintaining technology and diagnosing and treating diseases. However, there is a parallel we could draw here. Just like the Mt. Sinai program is trying to belittle the value of basic sciences in medicine, there are lot of colleges trying to minimize how important it is to have a decent grasp of mathematics and theoretical understanding of how digital equipment works in their computer science programs. In fact, there are even IT and MIS curricula designed to give just a little exposure to actually writing code and emphasizing project management skills instead. In comp sci classes, you could always tell who were IT or MIS major by cheers of how they won’t have to take the next course, a course which would take computer science majors deeper into how to turn logical and mathematical concepts into a useful tool with ever more esoteric and abstract code. This is not to say that MIS or IT majors don’t have any place in the information systems industry, but they usually aren’t the ones doing the actual coding and architecture.
Likewise, it seems that the Mt. Sinai students in question are being pushed away from specialties which are dependent on an extensive scientific education. And that’s a bad thing. Your primary care physician is usually the first person you see when you need medical attention. Trying to turn this profession into MD Lite is bound to go badly because primary care physicians need to make the right initial diagnosis, or at least forward your case to the right specialist. Do you really want to trust this task to a doctor who had a few abbreviated science classes, isn’t completely sure how many of the treatments he or she prescribes work, and is more interested in what you think about the quality of medical care across societal strata than in explaining what ails you and how to treat it? How would you feel if you knew that the person who you’re essentially trusting with your health basically viewed much of the required science as just a nagging obstacle of getting into scrubs? That attitude would certainly bother me since for some reason, I’m of the opinion that you shouldn’t be looking for creative ways to get around the fundamental skills and knowledge required by your profession.
