The Words Matter Podcast with Oliver Thomson

Dr Oliver Thomson talks with Prof. Ivor Ralph Edwards about causal dispositionalism in medical practice for The Words Matter Podcast CauseHealth Series.

Show Notes

Welcome to another episode of The Words Matter Podcast.

In this episode of the CauseHealth Series I'm speaking with Professor Ivor Ralph Edwards about his Chapter 9 of the CauseHealth book (download for FREE here) titled Causality and Dispositionality in Medical Practice (read his chapter here). Ralph is Professor of Medicine and Senior Advisor (and Former Director) at the Uppsala Monitoring Centre, the WHO Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring.

He has worked in clinical toxicology in the fields of drug abuse, acute and chronic poisoning, toxicity from industrial chemicals as well as adverse drug reactions. He now works on medical and legal aspects of causality evaluation, as well as issues of risk and benefit evaluation and data mining approaches to support signal detection and evaluation.

In this episode we talk about:
  • Ralph’s view of causation early in his career as a medical career.
  • His role in leading the global work to improve clinical reporting on possible side-effects.
  • We talk about how when working on medicine safety globally, he sees that different dispositions in different population groups affect how they response to medicines.
  • Ralph gives us examples from his own clinical work where some of the dispositionalist features of causality have been important.
  • We discuss the time it takes for a causal story to emerge.
  • Finally we discuss the problem of relying too much on quantitative evidence and statistics to measure and standardise medical practice and treatments.
It was pleasure speaking with Ralph. He has a vast and varied experience in medicine, and it was great to hear the role that causal dispositionalism has played in his work. His many anecdotes, great sense of humour and a voice for a podcasting, made the conversation all the more enjoyable.

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What is The Words Matter Podcast with Oliver Thomson?

The Words Matter Podcast brings you insights, reflections and conversations focused on the latest evidence, theory, philosophy and practice of communication-focused healthcare.

Find out about the more tacit, 'softer' and personal side of clinical practice such as the role of philosophy, beliefs, behaviours, developing therapeutic relationships or the purposeful use of language with people experiencing pain from expert academics, clinicians and researchers from across the world and spanning the musculoskeletal disciplines. This podcast will help you reflect on your own current practice and inform and stimulate you to consider new ways of approaching your practice and patients, to create a better clinical experience and outcomes in people with musculoskeletal pain.

Hosted by Dr Oliver Thomson PhD, an osteopath and Associate Professor who is passionate about researching and educating clinicians on a revised narrative, communication and biopsychosocial approach to musculoskeletal therapy. If you like the podcast, subscribe and check out the online learning and resources at www.wordsmatter-education.com.

Support the show and become a patron https://www.patreon.com/thewordsmatterpodcast