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Exploring
The Alternatives
Shaun
Kerry, M.D.
Diplomate,
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Today,
in order to become a doctor,
one has to go to a medical school, which is a four-year
program costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. |
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According
to one survey, for every dollar that the medical student pays, there
are four dollars
that come from other sources of funding. Most
people don't realize that 90% or more of the M.D. faculty members
are volunteers.
They
aren't paid. I find that incredible
to contemplate. The real heart, the
essence, of
medical school is provided free of charge. It
is the institution itself - the rigidity -
that is so expensive.
Conservatively
speaking, there are thousands of people with
chronic illnesses
who have educated themselves about their conditions
via the internet. They quickly managed
to become more familiar with their diseases
than the physicians who treat them.
There
is a wealth of non-profit web sites dedicated
to medical subjects and
authored by non-physicians. Though often
extremely information rich, they typically
post a disclaimer stating that their information
should not be considered medical advice, and
that the reader should always consult a physician.
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Such
a disclaimer is appropriate for
legal reasons, but usually ludicrous, because these
sites are often generally
more substantive and accurate than the information
provided by most licensed doctors.
This
is not a criticism of physicians,
but of the medical system. When doctors
are seeing thirty patients a day, they have
little remaining time for researching new medical
developments.
After
having been programmed by years
of education to practice with a particular
style, their potential for creativity and growth
is severely hindered.
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institutional education is
rigid and non-creative, directed toward learning
information that is mostly irrelevant and obsolete. Replacing
the current structure with a system that focuses on live
patients and allows ample time for the student to devise
creative solutions via internet information resources,
technical support, and a worldwide communication network
would greatly improve the quality of healthcare.
The
role of the teacher is not to lecture, but
to be available when the student
is having
difficulty or requires advice. Lectures
can be conducted via the internet. Today's
doctors tend to use ritualistic, formulaic
approaches: weigh, measure, take blood pressure,
conduct a superficial examination, write a
prescription, and then move to the next patient. Good
medicine is a creative process; a process which
must be developed from the beginning.
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