You are a doctor; a doctor of physical therapy. Many laypeople take every word you say as science fact but not all of them have a good understanding of what science is. Doctors—even the bad ones—know this and use it to misinform with destructive results.
Science literacy doesn’t come from watching YouTube
Children in the United States do not perform particularly well on science assessments compared to the rest of the world. In many cases the poor performance is generational and the parents of those children may, themselves, have a poverty of science knowledge. This should give the healthcare community deep concern.
It should be concerning because we must ask what happens when millions of Americans willingly give themselves over to charlatans who have legitimate medical degrees but use platforms like YouTube to make illegitimate claims about science? It should be concerning because millions of Americans may not have the science acumen to make informed decisions about their own health.
And, perhaps most disturbing, it should be concerning because millions lack the science literacy to choose allied healthcare professionals who can keep them healthy.
One physician calls out this medical misinformation threat and offers a solution to it in this article published by www.kevinmd.com.
From the article:
The United States has a big problem with science literacy, and when you have a public who fundamentally misunderstands what science is, you are going to have quacks and charlatans thrive.
Being proficient in science literacy is not watching a YouTube video and proclaiming you know the truth.
Sara Bajuyo, MD, How to top the anti-science charlatans (on kevinmd.com)
Read the full article to find out when—and if—this is likely to change.
Frank Long, MS, is Editorial Director of Physical Therapy Products and Rehab Management.
