“If you do not take control of your life…
… someone else will”
This is not only the beginning of an editorial by James Ausman in Surgical Neurology, but also the official beginning of DigitalNeurosurgeon.com
I read the article, and was especially touched by the title. And I was not really surprised that a couple of days later, the head of our department made copies of this article and handed them to the residents. Thanks for the message!
At that moment I was already experimenting with clinical decision supporting software and mobile applications for some years. In my opinion, the issue is clear: information technology (IT) is here to stay, also in the medical world. Especially the IT-part outside the operating room is getting attention lately. I think that we, the doctors, should be pushing this forward, instead of waiting until other people decide for us how we’ll have to do our jobs. I’d like to be an active contributor in that.
I welcome you to this website, and invite you to look around. Feel free to leave a message behind or to comment on the blogs.
Happy surfing!
Someone had showed me the same article and while I cannot say it was my direct inspiration for producing a site with a similar focus (www.millerneurosurgery.com) it definitely makes some interesting points. I’m a first year neurosurgical resident (in the US) and the long term outlook is bleak for surgeons if you listen to the popular media. But, as the end of that article eluded to: the patients are the ones that matter. We provide an indispensable service to society that will always be in demand. An American movie star recently died in Canada because helicopters are not cost effective health care measures. They quoted a cost of $8000 dollars for one flight. With an expanding EDH, the time saved by a short helicopter flight could lead to a full recovery versus a million dollar ICU/nursing home stay. The Canadian rationale will never prevail in the US and the failure of socialized medicine in Europe will assure a bright future for American physicians. Neurosurgeons hold themselves to a higher standard as sites like this demonstrate.
Well, at least some things will change, and I fully agree with you that we do have to offer added value. The point will be to make our purpose clear to the general population… I cannot say that individual patients react in the same disapproving manner that “the community” somestimes does. We may need to change to something like “health consultant” where we advise and the patients remains in control (and knows this, including responsibility!) The point will be how to cover the cost (Doc, I want an MRI… I just don’t feel well and the total body scan may help… err!)