Stimulus - Learn Tools to Crush It in Your Medical Career Regression to the Mean Isn’t as Boring as it Sounds
Dec 2, 2024
Join Josh Russel, MD, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine and a double board-certified physician, as he navigates the fascinating terrain of regression to the mean. Discover how this statistical concept plays a crucial role in medical decision-making and clinical assessments. Josh humorously tackles superstitions in the emergency department and explains the importance of control groups in interpreting health outcomes. Learn how understanding regression can shape our approach to patient care, reduce unnecessary interventions, and enhance clinical judgment.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
The ER Jinx
- Saying "it's slow" in the ER is considered bad luck, often followed by a rush of patients.
- This illustrates our tendency to find causal links, even in statistical phenomena.
Regression to the Mean in the ER
- Quiet periods in the ER are outliers, so a busier period is statistically more likely to follow.
- This is regression to the mean: extremes tend to revert to the average.
Israeli Fighter Pilot Study
- A study of Israeli fighter pilots mistakenly concluded that praise hinders performance and scolding improves it.
- This was due to regression to the mean: extreme performances tend to be followed by more average ones.