Worrying about Future Doctors

“We have to ask ourselves if spending more time on electronic medical records than with patients is time well spent, if  you’re only spending eight minutes talking to and examining a patient, something is certainly going to be missing.”

Pauline Chen, M.D., quoting Dr. Leonard Feldman of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,  “For New Doctors, 8 Minutes Per Patient,” New York Times, May 31, 2013

This story makes me worry.

That clinical efficiency is  a deficiency,

That digitizing is too mesmerizing,

That constantly  looking down at devices prevents  looking up at patients,

That paperwork does not replace doctor work,

That  mere data documenting  is a poor substitute for real doctoring.

That computer obsession is a sign of humanistic recession.

That always being "connected" leaves no time for independent thought.