While some professions in society will always be irreplaceable, it doesn’t put an end to the possibility that such professions will inevitably have to undergo a massive change in their functioning for sustenance. Today let’s discuss if doctors will become obsolete when technology will start playing a major role in the healthcare industry.
COVID 19 and current healthcare landscape
While the perpetual need for doctors in our lives has never been doubted, the year 2020 made us realize this truth even more deeply because of the COVID 19 crisis that the entire world had to face together, while in isolation. In the past year and in 2021, there has been a massive shift in our ideologies, our habits, our preferences, and most importantly, our priorities.
Before COVID 19, the world was functioning and thriving on the foundation of human interaction. Not once did we have to think before stepping out of our house and neither did we pay that much attention to our health and immunity as we do now.
Fast forward to 2021, we have now entered a phase of humanity where people fret on the thought of interacting or coming in to close quarters with another human or even visiting another public place. Whether it’s a relative or one’s well-accustomed neighborhood grocery vendor, people now have a tendency to think twice and doubt the severity of their need.
Unless they absolutely have to be near another human, they’d feel more comfortable not doing so. While it is okay to reduce your meetings with friends and family, and you can pretty much order anything that you want online with zero contact, what about the times when you will absolutely need to step out to see your doctor for the sake of your health?
The Solution – Technology
As ridiculous as it may sound, most people have now developed a habit of seeing their doctor only when they think that a certain health issue is severe. Thanks to the gift of telemedicine, you can now consult your doctor whenever you want, whether the problem is big or small.
If you look up your symptoms on search engines, only to be led towards a spiral of worrisome thoughts and second doubts, we full well understand that search engines can never replace the consultancy and instinct and experience of a Doctor. No matter how much technology expands in the coming time, it is a well-established fact that technology still has a long way to go before machines are able to heal and treat humans, all by themselves.
If you are ever confronted by a health issue, seeing a doctor will not be an option, but a necessity. This would mean defying your social distancing habits by visiting your doctor’s clinic and then spending the rest of the week in doubt. No amount of technology, no fancy robotics, no concrete AI and no possible cyber-enabled solutions can replace the need for an actual human doctor. Keeping the current socially distant times in mind, if you want to keep safe but also consult a doctor inevitably, telemedicine is the only solution that gives you the benefit of both, with added peace of mind, while you are sitting at home.
2020 was the year when telemedicine and digital health emerged as a powerful solution to the healthcare management problem throughout the country, and this is precisely what the future of healthcare looks like.
There is a distinct convenience in being able to consult your doctor while sitting at home through the power of technology. No more hassles of going to the doctor’s clinic or a hospital, no more waiting in long queues while interacting with fellow patients, and unnecessary human contact. With telemedicine as a viable digital health solution, one can simply contact their doctor at the touch of a fingertip and have a healthy consultation virtually.
Often times people, especially the newer generations come to doubt the importance of a doctor and prefer self-diagnosing and treating themselves through technology and advise found on-search engines, of course. While this might seem like a very personal choice , it can, in fact, be detrimental to one’s health.
Doctors are professionals who have become adept at the treatment of diseases after years of study, practice, and experience. Searching for conclusions based on incomplete symptoms online will only lead one to vague, exaggerated, and most often, “trending” search results which might not be the problem that one might even have. When it comes to healthcare, technology will be dictating the accessibility of it for a long time, but Doctors shall always remain the foundation of any such technology that bridges the gap between healthcare and people, thereby making it accessible.
In Conclusion, technology might keep changing or even encounter the possibility of becoming obsolete, but doctors will never become obsolete. The only way forward is combination of two through telemedicine, which brings the best form of healthcare with technology and doctor, together. Docty offers an innovative telemedicine solution that is integrated with AI and smart tools.