May's Topic: The Knowledgeable Doctor

How informed are practicing physicians in basic science, and how does his affect the practice of medicine?

During my undergraduate years I was unsure which direction I wanted to follow as it relates to a career. At first I believed I wanted to go down the path of medicine and become a doctor. Then I was a bit dissuaded from that, probably because I would have done horribly with patient interactions.

So instead, I intended to pursue a career in research and directed myself towards pure science and going to graduate school. Of course, both of those plans didn’t pan out, much to the chagrin of my parents.

Either way, my college life and focus on STEM¹ courses would usually place me with students who were on a pre-professional track (usually pre-med or pre-pharm) or those with research-only in mind. Essentially, students who had some type of love and enthusiasm for science.

But what I eventually found out is that, for all intents and purposes, most of these students did not actually care much for the basic principles of science and general fields that would otherwise be a requirement for future professions. Most pre-med students abhorred the notion of taking a second semester of Organic Chemistry, and many more avoided any lab courses that were not required for their major².

From what I can tell many of these students had one thing in mind: Chemistry, Biology, and Pharmacology may only serve as hindrances to their medical school endeavors rather than courses that improve their foundations for becoming a doctor. Essentially: less science; more medicine.

I will admit that this is a rather bold assumption to make, but is it also inherently wrong to assume that many doctors may not actually be as knowledgeable about the diseases that they treat, or the drugs that they prescribe?

As talks of the “miracle drugs” PAXLOVID and Molnupiravir began to spread during Fall 2021, I was quite shocked to see how many doctors and scientists were describing Molnupiravir as being similar to Ivermectin, mainly because the manufacturer of both were the same- Merck. I’ve even seen a few people with a robust science background comment, “well, the structures are slightly different but the drugs are the same.”

We know full well this isn’t the case now, but I was still a bit dismayed to see how quickly this type of incorrect information can spread around otherwise highly intelligent doctors and scientists.

And so it was because of this that I wanted to look a bit further into the matter, and see whether many practicing doctors are also knowledgeable about science as well.