Even before the days of the first yabba dabba doo powered automobile and the brontosaurus steam shovel, the ultimate goal of technology has always remained the same...
To build a ROBOT DOCTOR.
One day, maybe in my lifetime, I'll be conveyed into a clinic on a moving sidewalk. A friendly ferrous-alloyed physician will shake my hand with a just sterilized claw, steaming like a hot towellette, or maybe I'll grasp the disposable prosthetic hand shaker/quad orifice scope instead. "BEGINNING DIAGNOSTIC" flashes on the viewscreen, and after an uncomfortable but thorough four minutes of being probed in my all orifices simultaneously, the software comes to a conclusion.
"DIAGNOSIS: MEDICAL STUDENT. WELCOME TO YOUR MEDICINE ROTATION."
Ah, technology. Making life better for us all.
Mechanical medical personnel aside, there have been many techy advances for medical students which have come about in recent years. PDAs jump readily to mind. These secondary brains have saved many a clerk from looking foolish in front of an attending more times than their primary brains have. If somebody tells you they're not useful in medical school, they either haven't found the right programs, or the Mennonites have gotten to them.
Another happy byproduct of medical technology has been the introduction of computers as record keepers in the hospital. For the most part, I've found that records are easier to access, harder to lose, and much more organized than their paper counterparts. The benefits are almost infinite, but the drawbacks are in no short supply. Computer crashes, data backup failures and incompatible software are just a few of the issues EMRs face. Bad for health care. But good for students!
As long as you're tech savvy enough to have found and read this blog, you have a pretty decent
chance of being computer hero to many of the old-school pre-digital era dinosaur MDs out there. You know the ones I'm talking about. They're the ones that hold the mouse upside down, or the ones that somehow manage to activate the virtual aquarium screen saver and password lock themselves out. Once there's an EMR crap out, you can save the day and feel marginally useful, rather than marginally primate.
Lemonade from high tech lemons. End transmission.
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