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 The Problem with
Healthcare Delivery
It is far too expensive; the wait is
too long; and often, physicians seem rushed, spending negligible time
with their patients, and reacting insensitively to the needs of those
entrusted to their care.
The biggest problem, however, is that doctors
frequently cannot diagnose or treat a patient's illness, and
use methods that do more harm than benefit.
Suppose you go to your doctor because you have been feeling tired.
He does a physical exam and orders some seemingly high tech
lab tests. The results are normal, and you are led to believe
that there is nothing physically wrong. After all, modern
medicine is very advanced, isn't it?The
healthcare system is far more primitive than it appears. Compared with the
complexity of the human body, the practice of
medicine is in
the Stone
Age. We have yet to cure the common
cold, much less a whole host of other diseases. As for
feeling tired, there are thousands of possible physical causes that
modern physicians cannot diagnose or treat. Some such diseases
are known only by a handful of experts, but many remain unknown.
Biological warfare
is an imminent threat for which we are unprepared.
Much of our lack of preparation stems from the
inability of our current medical system to provide care for
our entire population. We can deal with the threat of
bioterrorism by taking away civil liberties and rights to privacy, or
by fixing our healthcare system which would also solve a multitude of
other problems.
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It's not the fault of doctors. The system
is in terrible disarray.
The microorganism mycoplasma is one of a myriad of pathogens
that can reside in the body undetected for years. It can disrupt
biochemical functioning, leading to fatigue and other symptoms.
Dr. Garth Nicholson is one of
many researchers working on the detection and treatment of this and
other diseases.
Dr. John Martin
is investigating what he terms
"stealth viruses."
Knowing these doctors first-hand, and having tested
positive for both of these debilitating illnesses, my stake in this
matter is highly personal. |
The System Could Be Drastically Improved:
A medical system that could diagnose and treat any illness is a distinct
possibility, but contingent upon the restructuring of medical education.
One of the most lamentable wastes of our natural resources is the
mismanagement of our young people's minds.
Let's compare Microsoft with the medical
system. The requirement to
work at Microsoft is simply the ability to do one's job. The
requirement to be a medical doctor, however, is to spend valuable years
in an irrelevant, expensive, academic setting followed by several more
years of incomplete training. After enduring more than a decade
of this insanity, of course doctors will charge more money for their
time.
It is not that
doctors are intentionally taught to be uncompassionate;
the medical educational system is intrinsically dehumanizing. If
Microsoft operated like that - requiring it's employees to undergo over
a decade of irrelevant training - the corporation would collapse.
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