Medical Disruption

How Tech Can Turn Doctors into Clerical Workers
Title of New York Times Article

I bounced the above article among several of my doc buddies. The conversation went like: “You spent 10 years going to med school. Now, you push paper. And, BTW: you may be replaced by a robot. Huh. Yeah. Well. ….”

Not good for one of the most respected professions. But, an undisputable sign of concern among one of the most lucrative and respected professions during the COVID pandemic. It’s all about medical disruption.

Medical learning machines can assess, diagnose and even predict illnesses increasingly better than medical professionals. AI can predict cancers. AI can diagnose skin cancer better than dermatologists. AI can predict seizures better than neurologists. In the near future the machine will be able to look at health markers and predict a person’s lifespan with 95% certainty.  If MD’s are highly degreed clerical workers, one physician asked:

“It’s enough to make doctors like myself wonder why we spent a decade in medical training learning the art of diagnosis and treatment.”

Story: Patients are also getting smarter. Patients are quickly learning they can get a virtual diagnosis cheaply and quickly through the web. Think about when you visited a doctor. What did you do? Probably, you went to WebMD online to check out your symptoms and see what you’ve got. Then, you went to the doctor to get a real diagnosis and second opinion.

Work Lesson Earned: Docs are asking the same question:

‘what do prospective doctors want to be when they grow up’? There was an interesting article in LinkedIn about how tech is attracting young doctors. The numbers are stunning. For example, 47% of young doctors and pharmacists are interested in moving to tech. Why? They see their career FOW and don’t like it. These early career risk-takers are lured by the vision of meaningful and substantive work at higher pay. They’re told med schools, business schools, and traditional companies are no longer the best option for hustle-oriented.

So, what’s the future of healthcare? What’s the future of medicine and doctors? Doctors may help patients with a second opinion after a machine algorithm diagnosis. The docs will review the algorithm’s assessment, diagnosis, and ethical biases. They then validate the machine diagnosis and share the human touch of communications, intuition, judgment, understanding, and empathy with their patients.

What’s the future of your work, career, and job?