Many Doctors, Many Tests, No Rhyme or Reason
All of our investments in high-tech medicine and tons of tests, as well as the drive toward further specialization, aren’t really having an impact on public health indicators like life expectancy and child mortality. But for those who want to go into medicine (like me) the sexy, intellectually-stimulating, cutting-edge, fiscally-rewarding work is in those specialties.
We need to have a different focus.
“In an age of explosive development in the realm of medical technology, it is unnerving to find that the discoveries of Salk, Sabin, and even Pasteur remain irrelevant to much of humanity.” – Paul Farmer
“The physicians are the natural attorneys of the poor, and the social problems should largely be solved by them.” – Rudolf Virchow