People are entitled to describe what they "know" from clinical experience. This is one way of knowing. Indeed, the richness of the qualitative data available in clinical experience makes this a unique and powerful way of knowing. This is why many or most clinical innovations are first presented as case studies. Later, as a result of clinical impressions, certain interventions are put to the test in the controlled experimental format. This is another way of knowing that is superior in some ways and inferior in others. For example, the quality of experimental results is limited by the quality of the design, and may fail to take into account important information. There is no need for clinicians to apologize for the knowledge or beliefs they may acquire through clinical experience. Of course there are limitations on any single way of knowing, which is why we like to combine knowledge from clinical and experimental sources.
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