Dr Clarkson spoke at Dunedin Hospital this week to mark his time in paediatrics, from which he retires next month.
Attended by about 100 people, his talk was an often funny take on medical milestones throughout history, with a focus on paediatrics, and a few anecdotes from his career.
The media and politicians were prime contenders for being "gullible", and not exhorting "evidence-based" health practice.
However, his own profession did not escape censure for some members' "quirky" approach.
Ignoring the medical profession's failings would amount to the "pot calling the kettle black".
"Not all of us are good at going with the evidence; some of us are quite quirky."
Dr Clarkson said it was upsetting to see an anti-vaccine person given equal footing to Immunisation Advisory Centre director Dr Nikki Turner, who was often in the media explaining the importance of vaccines.
"Why are some of us more sceptical, and some of us more gullible?"
Much had changed in child psychology during his time, with a move away from blaming a child's environment, towards drug therapy. He favoured a balanced approach.
He said clinicians must be careful to understand the role of a child's temperament, when diagnosing a disorder. He was keenly interested in child abuse prevention, a field which lacked research.
A project in Dunedin in the 1980s involving two social workers identifying families early who might need more support was "killed off by political correctness".
He was heartened such an approach was finding favour again, and said those types of programmes worked if they did not try to exert social control.
Dr Clarkson has been a paediatrician at Dunedin Hospital since 1975, where he was previously a registrar and house surgeon, following his training at Otago Medical School.
