CARDIOLOGISTS LIKE THEIR GLASSES HALF FULL

Those of us who work closely with our colleagues know that we frequently have a different approach to managing conditions with a less than firm evidence base. One consequence is that some doctors prove more popular than others with certain patients and gain a reputation for having particular expertise in a given area of practice. In Britain the racing metaphor is “horses for courses”.

This month Rakow and Bull, from the department of psychology at the University of Essex, investigate this process after providing a case vignette to 80 attendees at a paediatric cardiology conference. Four treatment options were presented and doctors asked to prognosticate on mortality and quality of survival of the various treatment options. Two proved most popular though all had their adherents. Participants tended to prefer an option which maximised the chance of a good outcome rather than the “safer” one of minimising a poor outcome. Cardiologists, it seems, go for opportunity and potential rather than safety …