Editorial
In praise of prime numbers: satire as a tool for teaching clinical reasoning
BJA open, Vol.20, 100857
09/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.bjao.2026.100857
PMCID: PMC13672967
PMID: 42890377
Abstract
Scientific satire occupies an unusual place in medical publishing. This editorial discusses the role of medical satire by highlighting an article that poses as a retrospective observational trial using a large database, and compares a clinically relevant outcome between two arbitrary, physiologically meaningless groups. The differences between the groups are statistically significant, but physiologically nonsensical. The editorial explores epistemology as it applies to the practice of medicine. The greatest value of the satire may be medical education and its teaching of clinical reasoning. It reminds clinicians that cognitive heuristics, arbitrary categorisation, and large datasets can combine to produce statistically convincing, yet clinically meaningless, associations.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- In praise of prime numbers: satire as a tool for teaching clinical reasoning
- Creators
- Robert S. Holzman - Harvard Medical SchoolCynthia A. Wong - Department of Anesthesia, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA
- Resource Type
- Editorial
- Publication Details
- BJA open, Vol.20, 100857
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.bjao.2026.100857
- PMID
- 42890377
- PMCID
- PMC13672967
- ISSN
- 2772-6096
- eISSN
- 2772-6096
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 09/2026
- Academic Unit
- Anesthesia
- Record Identifier
- 9985231343302771
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