In which I ponder the antecedents of quackademic medicine

For some time now bloggers who share a concern about quackademic medicine (a term referring to the pervasive infiltration of quackery into the curricula of American medical schools which I coined here) have pondered the reasons. Indeed the reasons are multiple and complex. But I believe there is a causal chain and if you trace back far enough along the chain you land here: the American Medical Student Association (AMSA).

In the past I’ve blogged a great deal about their woo promoting agenda. Moreover, in considering this agenda alongside AMSA’s PharmFree initiative I have previously noted, in less PC terms, a certain lack of internal consistency.

But over time my enthusiasm for calling out the quack promoting activities of the AMSA waned; despite multiple attempts of myself and others in the blogosphere to raise awareness the problem continued unabated. Among the many folks in high places in the world of medical education few people seemed concerned enough to do anything to try and stem the tide.

I recently ran across two wonderful blog posts (here and here) that rekindled my interest. These bloggers have succeeded in probing the extensive AMSA site and unpacking the woo promoting content better than I ever did. Both posts are worth the read. Great exposure!