David Sackett
David Sackett
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David Sackett

David Lawrence Sackett OC FRSC (November 17, 1934 – May 13, 2015) was an American-Canadian physician and a pioneer in evidence-based medicine. He is known as one of the fathers of Evidence-Based Medicine. He founded the first department of clinical epidemiology in Canada at McMaster University, and the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. He is well known for his textbooks Clinical Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Medicine.

One of his more famous quotes is: "Half of what you learn in medical school is dead wrong."

Sackett obtained his medical degree at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and a Master of Science in Epidemiology from Harvard University.

David Sackett made seminal contributions to the science of health care and the teaching and practice of medicine. He did so through vision (about how to improve health care through research), innovation (in research methods for health care and education of researchers and clinicians), and engendering collegiality and collaboration. [citation needed]

Among his more important randomized clinical trials, and in collaboration with colleagues around the world, he was a Principal Investigator in the trials that showed, for the first time anywhere, the life-saving benefits of aspirin for patients with threatened stroke and threatened heart attack, that surgically repairing the "hardened" arteries of patients with threatened stroke (carotid endarterectomy) prevented both stroke and death, and the ability of nurse practitioners to provide effective, high-quality primary care. [citation needed] In addition, his "debunking" trials showed the futility of traditional health education in helping hypertensive patients take their medicine, and that a popular "bypass" operation for stroke-prone individuals did more harm than good. [citation needed]

He repeated his residency in medicine some 20 years after first training because, although a professor in medical school, he 'wasn't a good enough doctor.'"

His contributions to research methodology included ways to detect and reduce bias in clinical research, and ways to design, conduct, and report randomized clinical trials. David Sackett is widely regarded as one of 3 "fathers" of modern clinical epidemiology (along with Archie Cochrane of the UK and Alvan Feinstein of the USA). [citation needed] Clinical epidemiology is a research discipline based on the methods of epidemiology (and other scientific pursuits, notably biostatistics, the behavioral sciences, and health economics), applied to understanding the nature of health care problems and, especially, their management. Thus, it is a bridging discipline, linking research to clinical practice. Typical topics include the cause, diagnosis, course (prognosis, clinical prediction), prevention, treatment, and amelioration of health disorders, and the improvement and cost-effectiveness of health services.

Sackett was the founding chair of the first department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the world at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1967, and extensively contributed to the development of research methods through his books and published articles, as well as through education and lectures at McMaster and around the world. Notably, he turned clinical research into a scientifically sound and practical, multidisciplinary "team sport" and has changed for the better the quality of health care research and clinical practice.

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