Technology and the Dumbing Down of Your Doctor

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This article in Forbes is written by a well known physician who is high up in the medical tech industry. Dr. Roy Smythe is CEO of HX360 and Chief Medical Officer of AVIA.  He tries to make the case that technology can dumb your doctor down but it is all worth it.  Here is the last part of his piece:

The doctor is rapidly becoming a combination of technology, readily accessible digital information, and a caring human capable of synthesizing and using that information at your behest, when needed (and the human will not always be needed). This combination is remarkably smarter than the biologic entity to whom we commonly now refer to as “doctor,” and certainly not “dumbed down.”

I do add one note of caution here, however, related to artificial intelligence technologies such as IBM’s Watson and Google Brain. If there is a diminishing need for physicians to actually synthesize and use that readily available information by virtue of technologies replacing that activity, then I am actually am somewhat concerned about the future impetus for humans learning the science of medicine in the first place.

So, as I stare down the barrel of the second half of my life, and await patient-hood, do I think that those medical students should put their smart phones and tablets away?

No… but let’s make sure that we protect that power grid, and keep the batteries charged.

Smythe truly is biased here but he tips his hand on where healthcare is headed.  This is not about dumbing down doctors.  Once again, the powers that be want to get rid of us doctors.  And our protectors, our leaders, and our advocacy groups are doing nothing to protect us. This, in my opinion, is a huge mistake because human doctors can never be replaced.