g_pepper comments on Thinking like a Scientist - Less Wrong Discussion
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Perhaps, but a the doctor in the OP did not just happen to later get some evidence about how correct he/she was; instead, after formulating a hypothesis, the doctor ran a test specifically to test the hypothesis. That is practically a textbook example (albeit a fairly short/simple one) of the scientific method at work.
And that was really my point. It is worth noting that the scientific method is really just a very rigorous formalization of common sense reasoning. I think that demystifying science among the non scientifically sophisticated population is actually a step in the direction in which the OP gestures.
This also is true; even if one can't expect the full-on House M.D. treatment each time one goes in with a sinus infection or strep throat, many of the protocols that the doctor follows and the medicines that he/she prescribes were developed/tested with a high degree of scientific rigor.