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by xpe 615 days ago
No, “everybody” in healthcare does not know this. I have learned to be skeptical and not to assume any particular level of statistical competence in the healthcare field.
2 comments

Nurses/healthcare professionals often take the patient's blood pressure and heart rate just as soon as they enter the room after walking and moving about. Wait a few minutes and the measurement changes significantly, giving you a better indication of actual heart rate at rest.
I went in for a checkup and my doctor actually retested me after a few minutes because the first reading was unnaturally high. Hurrying into the office and the general anxiety of being in a hospital certainly raises it by a bit.
If they don't then the education system (and common sense) has failed them.
It's been failing a lot of people for a while then. At this point you can't assume competence.
I get the sentiment, but let me add one thing. Understanding statistics well is far from "common sense". In general, to operationalize statistics well, one has to both (a) train your mind quite carefully beforehand, and (2) slow down in the moment to make sure your rational thinking modes have traction.
I’m not sure how common sense factors in, but the education system has absolutely failed most providers that I’ve seen in the last 20 years.