Healthcare. A modern-day first world complaint?
Round the dinner table at christmas, we got through a lot of topics, but chatting with my relative made me realise something that I always thought was true.
“I still have an aching shoulder even though I visited several doctors. Some of them even have the audacity of saying that ‘it’s nothing’.”
People are losing trust in doctors and the whole system because in this day and age, a correct diagnosis either takes time or different doctors.
Even in the 21st century, a doctor’s job is pretty much guess-work. You tell your GP or specialist the symptoms you’re suffering from and the professional tries to piece it up into a diagnosis. He might refer you for addition scans or checks from where a better diagnosis can be resolved.
Nonetheless, scans and checks are only as good as the person interpreting them. Luckily in the age of AI, we can make that do it for us.
In China right now, doctors are using AI to interpret CT scans to look for possible signs of Cancer. This function called Computer Topography, not only is capable to perceive even the smallest of lesions but also does faster and is more accurate than any doctor. (Kite-Powell, J., 2017)
Even ‘everyday’ influenza can be confused with a common cold were one is given the wrong treatment and recovers slower.
Another complaint of my relative was that the different doctors rarely read all the patient’s history and he ends up being given pills and remedies which either he had tried before or else doesn’t really address his concern.
In my opinion, this is where a trusted family GP comes in. He’s the middleman to all the stressed professionals that you have to visit and keeps everything in check.
In general, the healthcare system is not only expensive but rash and apathetic. Even though there are long queues and days ahead of our doctors/nurses, not all of them are like that. Sadly, there are a few who ruin the whole facade.
All the general public wants, is that their aches and worries are gone without any hassle.
In the growing age of technology, I think that we definitely should push towards a better and quicker diagnosis, and not only focus on new medicinal treatments.
I dream of a world, where a doctor relies on data and not recalled symptoms to make a diagnosis. My dream is to understand what is the problem first, before we treat/cure it.
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