How do you answer this interview question

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docbest

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where do you see medicine going in 10 years or what is the future of medicine?
 
In 10 interviews, I've never heard this question. I think they are more likely to ask where you see yourself in 10 years. Medicine, how should we know? More mechanized for sure, quicker paced, more managed... otherwise, I don't know.
 
10 years? <chuckle> We'll all be dead in 3 from the bird flu.
 
I say two things:

1.) Personalized medicine (i.e. genetics)

2.) Role of doctor changing.
a.) from therapeutic manager to therapeutic ally (due to increase level of information available out there available to consumers). instead of "giving" advice/information, doctor will be helping patient sort through/synthesize everything that's out there.
b.) also -- patient advocate, especially when it comes to insurance companies increasingly trying to direct the care of a patient more than the actual doctors.

Clearly not very well articulated here, but something along those lines ...
 
I was just at a lecture in which we were told there have been more advancements in medicine in the past 50 years as there was in the previous 500, and there will be more advancements in the next 10 years as there was in the previous 50.

Anyway, there's the cynical answer that demonstrates your understanding of the current problems in medicine, and there's an idealistic that demonstrates your desire to change.

On the more cynical side, you can say that with the Federal government pushing for more information technology, there will be more access and sharing for patient records. However, there will also be a greater inequality in healthcare, with the better doctors opting to go into private practice where they don't have to deal with insurance companies or hospital administrators, and only deal with patients that can afford to pay out of pocket. Additionally, adminstrative positions will be filled by non-medical officers who limit the capacity to which a doctor can treat a patient and overregulate. These people will have their eyes on the bottom line, not whats in the patient's best interest. I would phrase this response as something you're concerned about, and you can discuss how doctors need to step up into leadership roles and work together for the sake of the patient.

On the more idealistic side, surgical and genetic advancements are going to be ridiculous in the next ten years. You're going to see a better understanding and diagnostic technique for biomarkers for diseases such as cancer and genetic disorders. Surgery will become less and less invasive, with surgical suites more ergonomic and dynamic. The key is to make all of these advancements available for everyone.
 
docdude:

It is part of a question in the interview feedback section of SUNY upstate
 
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