Either you believe in the scientific method or you don't

[Ms. Toad]

286. Your experience differs from mine in traditional medicine -

I have very few care providers with an MD or a DO after their name who start out with that level of honesty (including self-honesty) about medical uncertainties. They all get to that place - or they don't remain my doctors. But it is not where they start.

If your concern is how your care provider dealsl with uncertainties, why insist on characterizing them by profession. Just choose (or train - as I do most of the time) your care providers to treat you as an active member of the care team with who they have regular, honest, discussions about your treatment - including whether, and to what extent, it is supported by evidence.

My beef is that precisely that - the lines are drawn by categories of practice and treated with different expectations. You expect your traditional medical doctor to rely on evidence based medicine. You expect your acupuncturist not to. There are likely some differences in how much of their care for you is evidence based - but likely FAR less than you realize. And - I expect you hear a lot of certainties from your care providers with an MD or DO after their name that just dont' even register because, frankly, we expect that even when it is not warranted and most of them are inclined to speak that way. Yet your reaction when your acupuncturist speaks the same way is to call them a pseudoscientist - most likely without bothering to check either out as to the detail..