I have been wondering about this for a while, as I see how different medical training has become since my medical school days. Only time will tell, but I am not that optimistic. Teaching still needs the human touch. Technology will never replace my medical school professors who taught me that empathizing with the patient was a necessary step for making the right diagnosis using a holistic view of each person. The patient as a mirror of oneself in all his/her humanity, the patient as fellow pilgrim on our common walk though life journey. A doctor can only be a good doctor when he/she can feel the pain and suffering of the patient he/she encounters at the same human level. Technology can help us greatly in making a quick accurate diagnosis at a sterile, impersonal level. That can be for sure a good start, but the disease does not define the patient in front of us. The patient is a whole person with so many different dimensions technology cannot reach. Are millennial doctors prepared to deal with that? Lets see how this goes.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 00:29:46 +0000