Brian Pierce MD

04/27/2026

This is top-tier satire that (IMHO) effectively uses humor to deliver the main point. However, I’m going to expand on it because (*checks notes*) I’ve often warned folks not to just habitually accept memes at face value.

Anecdotal evidence is just a fancy way of expressing “personal experience and observations.” At the risk of being obnoxiously clear, of course, we need these. But (oh my Gawd, Becky, look at the size of this, but) anecdotes are nowhere near as reliable as we'd personally like. I think people understand this at least on a surface level, because people are often quick to doubt or question others' anecdotes for their flaws, but often fail to analyze their own—and we fracking should. And this isn’t just my observation. Science shows that our perceptions are limited, that we’re susceptible to several biases, and that our memories are riddled with more holes than Bonnie and Clyde’s car. (Too soon? Well, it was worth a shot.) In short, anecdotes have 99 problems, but at least the tedious b*tch of methodically checking validity ain't one. (Insert sarcasm sign.)

To be fair, anecdotes are useful in other important areas, such as justice and history. Even in science, an anecdote can be an inspirational tool for formulating a testable hypothesis. (A hypothesis is essentially an educated guess for why things happen, and we can test that guess to see if it is wrong.) So again, anecdotes are not useless. How-the-eff-ever, an anecdote is **not** scientific evidence, nor does it overturn scientific evidence.

Of course, a few short paragraphs may not be enough to fully pick up what I’m trying to put down. So, if you are willing to invest some time in enriching your understanding, then I’ve got your six. Check out the link when you’re free. Or don't. I'm not a do******ix ordering you around. ( I'm just a bloke on social media trying to use humor to trick you into learning more about science and critical thinking. Click and read whatever you want.

Carpe Datum and Semper Sci!
[Sgt Scholar Actual]
https://sgtscholar.wordpress.com/2025/01/29/appeal-to-anecdotal-evidence/

P.S. You can buy me a coffee on Patreon. Emotional support caffeine helps me deal with social media.

https://www.patreon.com/sgtscholar

04/25/2026

I'm not surprised at their findings in this study. Perspective-taking and intellectual humility are important for practicing medicine too.

Gift link

As a neuroscientist, I conducted research into artificial versus human intelligence. The results surprised me—and suggest we’ve been worrying over the wrong things.

04/18/2026

Happy to see Direct Primary Care (DPC) physician data in the 2024 American Academy of Family Physicians survey results but 22% of the DPC docs are employed by a hospital/health system and only 46% are either self employed or in a physician owned group?

Did AAFP lump corporate employed docs such as One Medical, Everside Health, Marathon Health, Forward Health, etc. in with DPC? These have little in common with physician owned DPCs other than they bill employers for monthly memberships.

That might have a big effect on AAFP's "DPC" work life balance, satisfaction scores and other data.

04/04/2026

Direct Primary Care is often dismissed as "concierge medicine for the wealthy." The data tells a very different story.

We recently surveyed 104 DPC physicians across 22 states. Here's what we found about access to care:

92% of DPC practices serve patients with Medicaid — paying their DPC membership fee — in states where the law allows it

85% provide some form of charity care or a sliding fee scale

69% carry panels where more than 1 in 10 patients is uninsured

74% dispense generic medications directly to patients — at lower prices than they can get elsewhere

For many physicians, DPC includes caring for patients struggling to pay for care — sometimes formally through sliding fees or quietly through donated memberships via third parties.

Confusing DPC with concierge is common but mistaken. Both give better access to primary care but concierge practices layer higher fees on top of complex insurance billing that drives up costs and prices. DPC is simpler with more affordable monthly memberships that can be paired with high deductible insurance or a health cost sharing plan.

Thank you to the New England Direct Primary Care Alliance, Direct Primary Care Alliance, and other DPC physicians who took the time to respond to this survey.

📊 Full survey results in the slides above.

04/03/2026

Just discovered and listened to this great episode about one of the
other Maine DPC pediatric practices.
Lionheart DPC is way up in The County too!

Dr. Maria Rutmann of Lionheart Direct Primary Care reminds us all: “Find that roar within you. You can do this.” Her journey from Venezuela to Maine is one of courage, reinvention, and putting community first. Feeling inspired? Share your “roar” in the comments!

04/01/2026

Just stop it.

ALT TEXT: a meme with an image of an infant's face, who has a red spotty rash. The text reads:

It's Saturday night at 2AM.

A baby arrives to the ER.

He's got a rash and a fever.

Will you be there to diagnose & treat him?

No?

Then stop telling strangers on the internet not to vaccinate their children.

03/28/2026

Good analogy.

ALT TEXT: an image of a tweet by user Deborah Roseman . It reads:

Vaccine refusal is like smoking, since your "personal health choice" puts others at risk.

Actually, it's more like making your children smoke.

In a room full of other people's children.

03/22/2026

Another tough match day for Family Medicine last week. Even more FM training positions went unfilled, 899 this time, the worst of any specialty.

In the past five years, 3,400 family medicine training positions went unfilled in the match. That's more missing family docs than those of us who've stayed in primary care by switching to DPC (about 2700).

Medical students are voting with their feet.

From Bryan Carmody's Sheriff of Sodium Blog and YouTube channel:

https://thesheriffofsodium.com/2026/03/21/match-day-2026-winners-losers-edition/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQOBeaQRbc

03/08/2026

I need to get better at this and put a bit more time into it. I'm pretty sure Facebook has throttled this account since I was posting a lot of stuff about vaccines five years ago.

02/24/2026

“We're even talking about maintenance of certification, which is what many physicians are annoyed about. We all want to be lifelong learners, but should it be a condition to be able to get hospital privileges? No. Should insurers be able to require the panel to only be board-certified? I don't think so. So these are the kinds of issues that I want to focus on”

Thanks to Rebekah Bernard for the link.

CEO John Whyte talks prior authorization, vaccines, and restoring the medical group's relevance

02/15/2026