Sunday, August 26, 2007

The researcher vs the clincian

This dichotomy keeps coming up.

Most recently in this Podiatry Arena thread:
No evidence for foot orthoses in children (notice the questions by clinicians directed at the researchers about the type of foot orthotics used)
Previously it came up in this thread:
Effectiveness of Foot Orthoses to Treat Plantar Fasciitis (notice the really poor understanding by clinicians of just what is a randomised controlled trial)

In a post in this thread: The 5 great FALLACIES of podiatric biomechanics, Kevin Kirby posted: "Researchers will continue to misrepresent the effectiveness of prescription foot orthoses until they understand the concept that skilled orthosis practitioners do not simply hand out cookie-cutter orthoses to patients without needing to occasionally adjust them to improve patient symptoms and improve gait function."

Researchers often complain that clincians "just don't get it".
Clincians often complain that researchers "just don't get it".

I am a researcher and a clincian and I think "I get it". What are we going to do about this? How can researchers conduct clinical trials so that clinicians can "get it". How can clinicians get researchers to see where they are coming from so they can "get it"

What say you? Comments here

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