Presented with a lengthy list of symptoms afflicting an infant, a group of physicians and medical staffers hashed out potential diagnoses with a visiting professor, without reaching consensus; the woman presenting the case then disclosed her diagnosis and how she reached it.
That diagnosis of a rare syndrome known as IPEX was later confirmed by genetic testing. Paul Kedrosky Where does this lead us? Are we physicians no longer needed? Is an observer who can accurately select the findings to be entered in a Google search all we need for a diagnosis to appear, as if by magic?
The cases presented at clinicopathological conferences can be solved easily; no longer must the discussant talk at length about the differential diagnosis of fever with bradycardia.
Even worse, the Google diagnostician might be linked to an evidence-based medicine database, so a computer could e-mail the prescription to the e-druggist with no human involvement needed. The education of house staff is morphing into computer-search techniques.
Surely this is a trend to watch.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him
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Dr. McCoy's Tricorder Must Link To Google
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