I’m in the wrong era of medicine to be a doctor. Here’s why.

As a doctor ready to finish my residency in anesthesiology, most people would assume I am thrilled to be at the finish line of this long, challenging and grueling process. While I am happy to move on and begin practicing on my own, I am also somewhat terrified of what lies ahead. It’s not caring for patients that I am afraid of, but the cultural state of medicine in the 21st century that I am worried about. Medicine has never been any safer than what it is now. Vaccinations have eradicated common diseases that killed millions. Dangerous medical procedures are now safe, and kids born with congenital defects have more hope than ever. I am appreciative of the safety of the current state of medicine. However, there is another part of medicine, equally as important, which I believe is in a constant state of atrophy and disappearance; the human touch. Let’s take a step back into the dangerous era of 1950s medicine. Anesthesiology, being a relatively new field, was riddled in morbidity in comparison to today’s practice. No continuous EKG, no pulse oximeter, no end tidal CO2. Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Physician Surgery Source Type: blogs