LOL - yes, apparently at least two of them do get along at times.
I was utterly shocked to find that there are osteopathic schools that never put their students through any kind of residency - they never apparently even see patients until after they graduate! Fortunately, I go to an on-campus clinic where that kind of incredibly flaky stuff definitely does not happen, and I play the part of the practice patient now and then. Which is cool. I’m happy to be part of their learning experience.
would imagine there are better and worse schools of each type. As is, I’ve got a whole team rounded up, in various specialty practices from different types of schools. But, I’ve had to deal with a lot and have learned to be decidedly proactive (as well as pragmatic).
What see amongst patient groups I’m familiar with, are two kinds of people who will fall for the ‘one cause of all disease’ crap, and a host of other con jobs. One is people who’ve always been well before and are still trusting and ignorant enough to fall for that kind of thing. ‘The worried well’ are an easy sell, since they have no real way to measure the results they didn’t need in the first place. They’re free to cling to whatever they may choose to believe. The other is people who’ve gotten no help from the providers they have seen (sometimes many), and have become so desperate they will try anything (and consequently, fall for just about anything.)
I even know of one case where a dentist with a marketing degree was getting patients to blackmarket medications the dentist had no authority to prescribe at all. for conditions the dentist was not licensed or qualified to treat! The number who fell for the ‘Dr.’ title alone was amazing. In another case, a company well-known for its criticisms of ‘bad science’ was found to have its own board populated with more questionable characters and people with conflicts of interests than even would have thought possible.
Some of those from the situation above were peripherally involved in yet another situation where I participated in a GAO investigation that revealed even large professional associations participating in faked peer reviews and insurance industry driven attempts to deny both illnesses and the care required, and had directly engaged a large federal agency in their agenda (which ultimately lost its funding and any authority over that particular issue). Their method of further gaming the situation also involved offering CME courses where they could continuously promote their nonsense. So obviously, it’s not just patients who get caught up in the crazy!
It’s kind of hard to argue against the con games, when so many otherwise ‘legit’ practitioners have failed them so badly, and sometimes outright abused them. It’s just a damned shame, whichever way it happens. But, what can you do? If they won’t listen, they’re doomed to finding out the hard way…hopefully, not the permanent way!
