Is Medical Training Inefficient?

[davebro]

Does a specialist doing say eye surgery or hip replacements really need to go through years of general medical training? Couldn't they be trained in their specialism more quickly & more effectively?

[Buenchico]

>>> An eye surgeon needs to know the ophthalmic manifestations of no eye conditions e.g rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic disorders, diabetes etc and so on and so an for ALL specialties, medical and surgica

I disagree. The person who assesses a patient prior to cataract surgery might well need to know all that stuff but the person who actually uses the scalpel or laser only needs to know about how to remove cataracts. People are trained to remove cataracts in a matter of weeks in the developing world.

[Jackdaw33]

My answer would be that before one becomes a specialist one first has to be a generalist.

[Sqad]

Buenchico

"People are trained to remove cataracts in a matter of weeks in the developing world."

I agree, but this thread is about "eye specialists" and with all due respect, one could honestly call someone who just removes cataracts as "Eye Specialists."

[Barmaid]

It's not the same thing but I believe a lawyer needs a general grounding before specialising.

The basics are the underpinning to a specialism.

[Buenchico]

The problem is though, Sqad, that highly-qualified (and highly-paid) 'specialists' often spend the vast majority of their time doing routine task like cataract removal.

If I've interpreted Davebro's question properly, the suggestion is that we should hand over such routine tasks to 'optical technicians' (or whatever other job title the NHS might decide upon), who've had just as much training and experience in doing the job as a consultant surgeon currently has (so that there's no lowering of standards) but who has not been required to learn stuff that he's never going to need to know.

[Canary42]

/// I love alliteration! ///

So do I, but I confess I had to put "dangerous" into a thesaurus to get "perilous".

[Jackdaw33]

Barmaid has preempted me. A lawyer who specialised in wills and trusts but didn't know a thing about contract or tort wouldn't be much use.

[Sqad]

Buenchico.......I agree, there are people who are such trained they are called registrars or junior doctors who are in training to become Consultants who are taught to remove cataracts in their journey to become Consultants.

Also...one has to know if a cataract is ready for operation and today cataracts are replaced by intra-ocular lenses .....and yes, one could train no medical staff to do these as well.....but we already have such people...medically qualified REGISTRARS.

[Prudie]

The mechanics of removing a cataract or replacing a hip probably can be learnt quickly but you'd still need specialist staff around to understand if anything was going wrong during the op so what's the point. Furthermore a malfunction of one part of the body like the eye can be indicative of something wrong nowhere near the eye and only a fully trained broad knowledge medic would know what.

[pastafreak]

We get several medical students a week who spend time with us as...I believe...part of their psychiatry rotation. They are usually first year, though sometimes 3rd. They rarely know what they want to specialise in. The 3rd year students may have considered several possibilities, but not yet settled on a final choice.

[Sqad]

Prudie

"Furthermore a malfunction of one part of the body like the eye can be indicative of something wrong nowhere near the eye and only a fully trained broad knowledge medic would know what."

Exactly.

[marval]

I think doctors should be trained in all areas of medicine.
You never know when an eye specialist might need his other medical training.

[davebro]

"only a fully trained broad knowledge medic would know what."

Maybe!

[davebro]

"You never know when an eye specialist might need his other medical training."

Like a car mechanic might be called out to fix a helicopter?

[Sqad]

Dave....don't feel so down hearted, you have always got AB with a well aimed link to a website.
Cheer up!

[Barmaid]

I trained in my specialism before I did my law degree, professional quals and then training before several years of general practice. I know that the basic stuff is the thing that underpins everything I do. I'm much more rounded and balanced as a professional too.

[marval]

If an eye or any other specialist was treating me and I became ill, I would hope they would know what to do. I would not want to have to wait for another doctor to come.

[davebro]

"If an eye or any other specialist was treating me and I became ill, I would hope they would know what to do. I would not want to have to wait for another doctor to come."

The thing is your eye surgeon probably hasn't seen a heart attack in years so he wouldn't be the best person to deal with it.

[vulcan42]

When I was in the RAF every station had their own doctor. On our station we had a specialist in tropical medicine, he wasn't kept very busy in Warwickshire I seem to recall. Whatever ailment presented itself two aspirins were always prescribed and seemed to cure it-eventually.

[woofgang]

Occuptional Therapists are one of the few (maybe the only) paramedical profession who does foundation training in both mental and physical health. I personally know of two situations where the Occupational Therapist working in Mental health was the only member of staff to notice and diagnose a physical problem in an in patient. Once it was someone bipolar who had started falling over and the OT said "hang on he's had a stroke" and the second instance was when nursing staff were having problems with a non verbal Alzheimers patient wo was very agitated and it was the OT (different OT) who diagnosed her collarbone fracture. I am not sure whether there is the potential to reorganise medical training but I am all in favour of all medical and paramedical staff having knowledge outside of their specialism.
My sister did midwife training from almost standing start, he had a Nursery Nurse qualification and now has a degree in midwifery. She had to take and pass foundation modules before she started her midwifery training proper.