Exercise in Futility

What is going on with doctor’s privileges?

I saw a news report about a clunky robot making hospital rounds with only the live video feed of the treating doctor. Where is the personal touch in a patient talking to a moveable television screen? How robots are going to improve the bedside manner of doctors is a question not worthy of scientific investigation.

While driving in my car, I also heard a report on talk radio about doctors using treadmills while on duty. These working stations allow doctors to exercise while reviewing charts, etc. Proponents are lobbying the efficiency of multi-tasking. I am all for saving steps but this is a step in the wrong direction. If my doctor fails to dispatch a robot then winds up walking in place anyway, why not walk towards me? If the trend is towards robotics and doctored treadmills, it sure won’t do anything to improve the penmanship on new prescriptions.

There is something inherently wrong with a good doctor not having the good time to talk to you in person. Something is amiss with doctors sending metallic effigy proxies or increasing their own health when talking about what ails you. If I called my doctor and heard the gangbuster roar of a treadmill, I might think that I wasn’t receiving undivided attention. But that is just me. If my doctor has to talk to me about something of life and death importance, I prefer it not to happen at eight miles per hour on an intermediate incline. That is how accidents happen.

I do not know which is more impersonal: talking to a hunk of metal housing or working doctors striding fit on treadmills in the far wing of a hospital. When robots get all the exercise in hospital rounds, it’s an exercise in futility.