Medicine and Technology

Technology is always advancing. Today, technology's influence on the world is wide. The field of medicine is no exception to this rule.

Technology is extremely helpful in medicine. With machines' help we can now give more accurate diagnosis. X-ray scans, echocardiograms, CT scans, ultrasounds and MRIs are just a few of the few tests technology has granted us. With a more accurate diagnosis, patients can now receive more appropriate treatments. This increases the patients' chances of recovery. Thus, technology is beneficial to medical practices.

However, it is dangerous for doctors to be over reliant on such medical tests. When a patient visits a hospital or clinic due to health concerns, a doctor should be able to give a rough diagnosis on the spot. If the doctor has no clear idea about what the patient might be suffering from, he might not be able to direct the patient to appropriate tests. For example, an ultrasound scan for a patient suffering from appendicitis is pointless. Medical tests are only helpful if they are appropriate for the patient. Thus, it is dangerous for doctors to rely overmuch on technology. Doctors should not forget their most fundamental tools - their eyes and ears.

Medicine is also not just about diagnosis and treatment. It is also about how caring the doctor or clinician is. A patient who has a morally supporting doctor will fare better than another suffering from similar illness but has no such support. Technology is simply a tool and can make a doctor seem uncaring. A doctor must remember to stay concerned about a patient's condition and often converse with them about it despite already knowing their conditions from monitoring machines. Doctors should not let technology advancements decrease their concern for their patients.

Recently, there have been cases where doctors use apps to help them with diagnosis and to determine treatment dosages. Some doctors have also switched from taking notes to typing in their smartphones or iPads. While this might be convenient, it might cause trouble. First of all, a doctor should know his patient best. There is no one rule for all in the field of medicine. Using an app, which might not be reliable, to determine diagnosis or treatment dosages is dangerous. As for note-taking, when devices run out of battery, the doctor will be denied access, this is also not good. Therefore, it is not good for doctors to be over dependent on technological advancements.

In conclusion, technology is just tool in medicine. It only helps in terms of convenience or accuracy when utilized correctly. In medicine, the main job is the doctors' not the machines'. A doctor cannot push the blame to machines if something goes wrong.