The state of medicine ∞
A weekly nugget or two of pain science news and ideas for patients and pros, usually 400–1000 words. The blog is the “director’s commentary” on the core content of PainScience.com: a library of major articles and books about common painful problems and popular treatments. See the blog archives or updates for the whole site.
Dr. Sandeep Juahar’s book about his bleak experience as a physician seems to be at odds with the autobiographical accounts of other doctors that I have read, most of which present a healthy mix of optimism and cynicism about their work and profession. It’s the same with the doctors I know personally, who all seem to be vigorous idealists of one sort or another. Their awareness of the failings and limitations of medicine is clear, but balanced by a strong and admirable enthusiasm to improve. If medicine is the unmitigated disaster that Juahar seems to think it is, I would expect to see a lot more doctors declaring it.