Let’s Give our Kids a Chance to Succeed

Let’s open with a quote from http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/07/physicians-courage-implement-comparative-effectiveness.html

“American physicians are not stupid. They know where the money is.

Established referral patterns, collegial medical relationships, flashy glitz for the patient to experience and describe versus ordinary pills, no pesky lawyers, country club shoulder rubbing, the payroll, and marketing of the local hospital. All these factors, and more.”

What I can’t seem to figure out is why there such a lack of promoting values and skills for our youth today that will allow them to succeed in the future so they can see through false statements and care promoted without or on shaky scientific ground. Is money really the end all be all? Of course not. In today’s digital era some argue that reputation is the new cash. Hence following values, morals, and ethics will go a long ways towards gaining reputation which can lead to money.

Today’s youth have lots of problems to worry about. For one college students are in a tremendous amount of debt. One source estimates that the average debt this year will be around $27,000.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/16/136214779/college-student-debt-grows-is-it-worth-it

 This is causing an increasing larger number of students to pursue degrees they do not have interest in and which consequently do not create real value to society such as the financial sector.

Source: http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/26/friends-don%E2%80%99t-let-friends-get-into-finance/

Another problem facing our youth today is the lack of understanding that everything you read on the internet is NOT true. The Pacific Northwest tree octopus study created a fictitious endangered species and asked 25 seventh graders to read a website about it. All 25 of the students fell for the hoax and 24 out of 25 said the site was very credible.

In another study 39% of 9 to 17-year-olds said they agreed with this statement:

“The information I find online is always correct.”

Anybody can make an internet website without regard to facts and get people to read it. Unfortunately it would appear our youth are ill-prepared to evaluate and analyze information to determine the validity of it. Perhaps when they get older they will gain some wisdom and see the truth behind the lies. But the fact of the matter is that it quite difficult to evaluate information.

I have compiled an extensive list of wisdom teeth complications but I know the average internet user is NOT doing any fact checking at all to check the truthfulness to these complications. Now I try to do serious analysis and cross check facts on my website but it could still have some errors in it particularly since I am not a physician. People need to be taught at a young age to question what they read and question what they hear and are told. This aspect of education needs to be improved upon.

I know for a fact that the majority of the internet is just one big garbage dump with misinformation. I would think the average youth today is using Google to search for things. Unfortunately most people do not go out of there way to provide you with accurate information. They are interested in making some profit whether that be driving you to their website or convincing you of a surgical procedure on shaky scientific ground.

For example, let’s look at recent website that has cropped up and appears high in the results for some keywords in Google. The website provides information on wisdom teeth surgery http://oral-surgeon.org/wisdom-teeth-surgery-procedure/. The site states

“Most of the dentists suggest extraction of wisdom teeth with the help of oral surgery, as it is difficult to accommodate them along with the other teeth in the jaw.”

The site does not provide an accurate representation of reasons for and against wisdom teeth removal. Looking closer at this site we see that it is actually run by the Law Offices of Devirian & Shinmoto in Los Angeles, California. This immediately calls into question the motive of the site. Is this site trying to promote wisdom teeth extractions so that potentially more complications can occur and they have greater potential for malpractice lawsuits? This is certainly a possible explanation.

Certainly search engines need to do a much better job of providing relevant content written with the site visitor’s best intentions in mind.

Let’s also look at a recent article by Thomas B. Dodson in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery titled Science, Not Politics, Delivers Wisdom. 69. page 1851. 2011. In the article he states

“We must maintain an objectivity that allows us to offer the patient with asymptomatic, disease-free third molars an operative and non-operative solution with equal credibility. To fall short of this not only denies scientific evidence, but as we have witnessed from experience, puts at risk our ability to provide patients what they need or want.”

Clearly this gives validity to the statement at the top that American physicians know where the money is. See wisdom teeth controversy for more information.

So that really lends itself for some further explanation of why this site was created.  The youth today has concerns with their own money and financial situation clearly on their mind. They also are not being taught effectively how to evaluate information and do their own analysis of it if required.

The youth today is vulnerable and needs better education. In addition we need those older not to be purely motivated by profit and ego but by ethics and morals. When I had my wisdom teeth extracted I was explained of the typical risks. It seemed to me that nerve damage was the worst complication that could occur besides death. Clearly there are other things that can occur like chronic headaches, paralysis, and lasting neurological problems.

I was young and believed I was being told of all the complications.  I even looked up on Google wisdom teeth complications and was brought to sites that exist today but do not do the complications justice. Hence Google did not lead me easily to information which may have affected my decision, other websites were not disclosing other complications, and I had no idea physicians did not have to legally disclose all of the complications.

Further I was never told that no scientific evidence exists to support or refute healthy wisdom teeth extractions. Nor was I told that in the U.K. healthy wisdom teeth are not extracted. This certainly may have led me to change my decision at the time to proceed with the extractions which has lead to my 24/7 headache.

Clearly the autonomy of physicians is under attack http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/07/professional-status-physicians-risk.html. Will more government intervention lead to better care? Maybe maybe not. One thing for sure is that we are human after all and what we thought was true last year may turn out to be false the next year or vice versa. This requires an understanding of challenging information you hear. Let’s make it easier on everybody else and be ethical in what we say and do.  Certainly allowing student debt to balloon out of control and the increase of those in the financial industry is not in the best interest of the U.S. A youth increasingly hungry for money with the inability to see fact from fiction is destructive.