In your opinion, to what extent will (or won't) computers take over a dr's job? (Any kind of dr.)

[Gauss44]

I'm wondering about job stability and the number of jobs for doctors today versus in 20-30 years from now...
The way I see it, there are already websites that attempt to diagnose ailments and robots (used in surgeries, etc.) can be more precise then the average person, and these will only become more advanced. I can almost envision a world where most doctors are in a role of supervising computers. The benefits to non-doctors might be great, reduced cost, a perfect memory of extensive patient histories, a huge database that includes more than the average's person's mind can store, computers are not susceptible to human disease (like H1N1, SARS, etc.)... Computers could save the world from the next plague, if developed enough by then... I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this.

What do you think?

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[woltej1]

The key role of doctors is interpretation and intuition, something computers cannot replace. Humans were not designed on an assembly line, we are all different. A lab result that might be elevated for you may be normal for me. A doctor seeing this for the first time might not be alarmed if I "appear" healthy and there is no other evidence of something going on. Computers cannot grasp a feel for the overall health of a person. So far every piece of tech in medicine is designed to work with doctors, not replace them. This isn't a car industry where they designed robots to completely replace people, rather compliment physicians.

 

[listener23]

Well according to some anti-urm SDN members being a doctor should only be based on your mcat score. Im sure we can design a computer who can get a 45 mcat, if it was up to them there would be no humans in medicine.

 

[NickNaylor]

Medicine is all about probabilities. In that sense, "big data" will be a huge help. But I don't really see computers "taking over" as healthcare providers anytime soon - at least for the next couple of decades. But the difficult thing about the internet and computing power is that they are hugely disruptive and, by their very nature, difficult to predict. So who knows?

 

[lnvictus]

Computers will only supplement a physician's job, not take over it.

 

[type12]

Computers will only supplement a physician's job, not take over it.

+1 The computer-illiterate physicians may be in a bit of a bind, but I have heard many schools adopting programming courses for 1st grade and up, so shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Law2Doc]

Computers will only supplement a physician's job, not take over it.

While I agree a computer will never replace a physician on its own, I think a bigger concern is whether a computer can ever supplement an NP enough to take over a physicians job...

 

[Perrotfish]

I'm wondering about job stability and the number of jobs for doctors today versus in 20-30 years from now...
The way I see it, there are already websites that attempt to diagnose ailments and robots (used in surgeries, etc.) can be more precise then the average person, and these will only become more advanced. I can almost envision a world where most doctors are in a role of supervising computers. The benefits to non-doctors might be great, reduced cost, a perfect memory of extensive patient histories, a huge database that includes more than the average's person's mind can store, computers are not susceptible to human disease (like H1N1, SARS, etc.)... Computers could save the world from the next plague, if developed enough by then... I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this.

What do you think?

Yes I think computers will eventually automate our jobs. When will computers catch up to physicians? I have no f-ing idea. No one thinks that their profession is going to be automated until it is. I'm reasonably sure that 10 years ago most lawyers never thought a computer could automate document review. I know that no one thought computers would ever surpass humans in chess until it happened. Maybe the davinci will start doing appendectomies without human input in 10 years. Maybe radiology programs will replace radiologists in 5 years. Maybe technology isn't going to catch up to our abilities for 50 years. Personally I would be mot suspicious of anything where data input is automatic or easily automated (radiology, in particular) but that's speculation.

All you can do is to be flexible and financially conservative. When law collapsed, the lawyers who had a higher saving to spending ratio were the ones who had an easier time transitioning to new careers.

 

[Espadaleader]

I doubt robots will replace surgeons in our lifetimes.