Mark Alden Crislip (born April 25, 1957) is an infectious disease doctor in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and chief of infectious diseases at

Legacy Health Legacy Health is a non-profit hospital system located in Portland, Oregon, United States. It consists of six primary-care hospitals, a children's hospital, and allied clinics and outpatient facilities. The system employs about 14,000 staff mem ...

hospital system. Crislip has generated three podcasts, ''QuackCast, PusCast, and Gobbet o' Pus.'' A writer for medicine-related blogs, he has compiled his blog posts into several books. He co-founded the Society for Science-Based Medicine and served as president from 2013 to 2019.

Biography

Crislip was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. He attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

from 1979 to 1983, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. He then earned a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

(MD) degree at the

Oregon Health & Science University Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Medi ...

School of Medicine in 1983. He completed an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

and

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

Hennepin County Medical Center Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) is a Level I adult and pediatric trauma center and safety net hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the county seat of Hennepin County. The primary 484-bed facility is on six city blocks across the street from ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

in 1986, followed by a

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Harbor–UCLA Medical Center Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, is a 570-bed public teaching hospital located at 1000 West Carson Street in West Carson, an unincorporated area within Los Angeles County, California. As implied by the name, the hospital is owned by the Los Angeles ...

. He is currently a

board-certified Board certification is the process by which a physician or other professional demonstrates a mastery of advanced knowledge and skills through written, practical, or simulator-based testing. Certification bodies There are more than 25 boards that ...

infectious disease specialist at several medical centers in the Portland area.

Podcasts

Crislip was the producer and host of the podcasts ''QuackCast'' ''(2006–2019)'' and ''PusCast (2005–2021)''. His podcast ''Gobbet o' Pus'' was active as of 2022. For each episode of ''QuackCast,'' Crislip delivered a monologue about a topic related to medicine, usually a critique of an

alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

practice or set of beliefs. He was inspired to create his own science-based medicine show after listening to the ''Slacker Astronomy'' podcast. The first episode of ''QuackCast'' was released on 5 May 2006. The podcast won three

Podcast Awards The People's Choice Podcast Awards, better known as the Podcast Awards, are global awards given annually to the best podcasts as voted by the general public. Founded in 2005 by Todd Cochrane of Podcast Connect Inc., the Podcast Awards changed han ...

in the Health/Fitness category, for the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. Since 2009, Crislip has been producing the ''Gobbet o' Pus'' podcast which features short discussions of interesting cases he has encountered in his medical practice and other topics of interest to infectious disease specialists. ''PusCast'' (also known as ''Persiflagers Infectious Disease PusCast'') was a bimonthly review of the infectious disease literature that ceased in early 2021.

Writings

Crislip is listed as editor (emeritus) for the ''

Science-Based Medicine ''Science-Based Medicine'' is a website and blog with articles covering issues in science and medicine, especially medical scams and practices. Founded in 2008, it is owned and operated by the New England Skeptical Society and run by Steven N ...

'' blog where he regularly wrote posts on investigating the claims of

until 2017. He is the co-editor, along with

Steven Novella Steven Paul Novella (born July 29, 1964) is an American clinical neurologist and associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Novella is best known for his involvement in the skeptical movement as a host of '' The Skeptics' Guide ...

and

David Gorski David Henry Gorski is an American surgical oncologist, professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine, and a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, specializing in breast cancer surgery. He is an out ...

, of a 12-volume series of ''Science-Based Medicine Guides'', based on posts from the ''Science-Based Medicine'' blog. He writes posts for a

Medscape Medscape is a website providing access to medical information for clinicians; the organization also provides continuing education for physicians and health professionals. It references medical journal articles, Continuing Medical Education (CM ...

blog called ''Rubor, Dolor, Calor, Tumor''. Crislip compiled selections from his blogs into two

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

s titled ''Puswhisperer: A Year in the Life of an Infectious Disease Doc'' (2014), and ''Puswhisperer Part Deux: Another Year of Pus'' (2016), He is also the author of a medical app for Android and iPhone called ''Infectious Disease Compendium: A Guide to Infectious Diseases''. ''Skeptic'' magazine published an article by Crislip in 2008 titled "Near Death Experiences and the Medical Literature," in which he criticized a '' Lancet'' article that reported on

near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...

s without considering all the physiological factors that may have accounted for patients' subjective experiences.

Other activities

Crislip was the president and co-founder of the Society for Science-Based Medicine (SfSBM), a nonprofit opinionated education and advocacy group. From 2013 to 2019, the SfSBM educated medical professionals and the general public about the importance of basing medical practices on science and advocated for laws to support the use of science in medicine. The organization's website included a

wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...

-based repository of material about questionable medical practices from

Stephen Barrett Stephen Joel Barrett (; born 1933) is an American retired psychiatrist, author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF), and the webmaster of Quackwatch. He runs a number of websites dealing with quackery and health frau ...

Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website, self-described as a "network of people" founded by Stephen Barrett, which aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and to focus on "quackery-related information tha ...

website. He is a founding fellow of the Institute for Science in Medicine, a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

educational and policy institute that promotes science-based medical practices. Several organizations that promote science and skepticism have invited Crislip lecture on alternative medicine and the

anti-vaccine movement Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

. He has spoken at

The Amaz!ng Meeting The Amazing Meeting (TAM), stylized as The Amaz!ng Meeting, was an annual conference that focused on science, skepticism, and critical thinking; it was held for twelve years. The conference started in 2003 and was sponsored by the James Randi Educ ...

three times, most recently in 2013. In June 2010 he gave a talk called "The Vaccine Pseudo-Controversy" for the

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a US nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal, as well as to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 199 ...

Portland. In November 2013 he spoke at a meeting of Oregonians for Science and Reason on the topic of "Supplement, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Myths." He was also a featured speaker at the QED Conference in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in April 2014. Crislip is credited with an oft-cited quote critical of

integrative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alte ...

: "If you integrate fantasy with reality, you do not instantiate reality. If you mix cow pie with

apple pie An apple pie is a fruit pie in which the principal filling ingredient is apples. The earliest printed recipe is from England. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream ("apple pie à la mode"), or cheddar cheese. It is generally ...

, it does not make the cow pie taste better; it makes the apple pie worse."

Awards

Crislip has been on the Top Docs list published by ''

Portland Monthly ''Portland Monthly'' (also referred to as ''Portland Monthly Magazine'') is a monthly news and general interest magazine which covers food, politics, business, design, events and culture in Portland, Oregon. The magazine was co-founded in 2003 b ...

'' magazine several times, most recently in 2014. '' U.S. News & World Report'' listed him as a Top U.S. Physician in 2012. Hospital residents named him "

Attending In the United States and Canada, an attending physician (also known as a staff physician or supervising physician) is a physician (usually an Doctor of Medicine, M.D. or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, D.O.) who has completed Residency (medicin ...

Most Likely to Tell It Like It Is."

Books

* ''Puswhisperer 4: A Fourth Year in the Life of an Infectious Disease Doctor'' (2020) * ''Puswhisperer III: A Third Year in the Life of an Infectious Disease Doctor'' (2018) * ''Puswhisperer II: Another Year of Pus'' (2015) * ''Puswhisperer: A Year in the Life of an Infectious Disease Doctor'' (2014)

References

External links

Crislip's Homepage

Society for Science-Based Medicine Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crislip, Mark American skeptics American podcasters American male bloggers American bloggers Living people 1957 births Physicians from Portland, Oregon University of Oregon alumni Physicians from Cleveland Oregon Health & Science University alumni Critics of alternative medicine