Third, qualify the claim. Finally, define the conditions for rebuttal. Being a good physician involves far more than an appeal to best evidence. The fact is, evidence-based medicine is better suited to the classroom than to the clinic. Nevertheless, interpretive medicine has its own assumptions that also need to be made explicit before too much is claimed on its behalf.
Several principles govern the project to study medicine as an interpretive practice.
Any statement, whether made orally on a ward round or in writing in case notes or a research paper, is part of a rhetorical process. A spoken or written utterance contains information, and the aim of passing on that information in a medical setting is to persuade someone else to consider or believe the point of view expressed by the speaker or writer. By separating these 3 parts, one can see all too clearly the need for time both to read and to think about the available evidence, as well as the skills to produce good criticism. In particular, we need to think about how to enhance reading and appraisal skills in medicine. And we must place more weight on understanding the limits of generalizability in our clinical experience and the research we read.