How The Role of Being a Doctor Is Rapidly Changing

The role of being a doctor is definitely not what it once was - ask any doctor; they'll tell you the same. Is that necessarily a bad thing? Absolutely not. Still, some key changes are completely changing the job role. 

Read on to find out more.

Less One-to-One Patient Contact

Even the nurses will tell you they're not having as much one-to-one patient contact - ask the doctors, and they'll tell you it's even less. The strain on the healthcare system in the US (and other healthcare systems globally) means everyone has less time to spend with their patients. For doctors, it seems to be even less.

For doctors, it's becoming more commonplace to remotely consult and treat patients through video calls or other forms of virtual consultation. And not even that, if they are on the ward, they're busy doing one million tasks per day and only going to patients when it's necessary. 

Some consider this development a must for modern medical conveniences, and others think it devalues the medical profession by turning the physician-patient relationship into a business of technology and managing an overload of tasks.

More Flexibility

Working isn't what it once was. Now, doctors can work with so much more flexibility if they want to. Working with medical recruiters and agencies is giving doctors the opportunity to work more flexible hours and for more money. And trust us, there's always work available as hospitals are beyond the brink of desperation to boost staffing levels.

Doctors in the old days would have been based in hospitals, medical centres, or doctor's offices. And we can completely understand why doctors would prefer more flexible working - the job puts so much pressure on workers that it's driving the workforce away from medicine altogether.

More Time Spent Using Technology

Doctors definitely spend more time using technology. Is it a bad thing? No. But we do think it's another reason doctors are spending less face-to-face time with patients.

From using electronic medical records (EMRs) to artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosing patients, technology is now a centrepiece of almost every function performed in the healthcare industry.

As much as there are wonderful things brought about by technology - improved diagnosis and management of patient records - there are issues. For example, many clinicians record a substantial increase in time needed for administrative work. There are also security risks with the NHS recently falling victim to a massive cyberattack in 2024.

Still, we can't deny that technology has more positives than negatives, but doctors need to be aware they'll spend more time behind a computer writing notes and ordering tests than they will with the patients.

What do you think about how much it has changed to be a doctor? There are so many positives to the career, but it's no surprise it's going through rapid changes right now. It'll be interesting to see how much it develops over the next ten years as technology becomes more of a driving force behind how they work.