A DANGEROUS AILMENT OF MEDICINE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of hyposkillia (deficit of clinical skills), when a doctor is unable to competently question a patient and conduct a physical examination, focusing mainly on the data of instrumental and laboratory research methods. The characteristics of the modern doctor, caused by technological progress and commercialization of medicine, are described: excessive pragmatism, excessive focus on new medical technologies, skepticism towards physical examination methods, and insufficiently developed clinical thinking. The causes of hyposkillia, possible errors and dangers in diagnosis and treatment associated with insufficient physical examination of the patient are covered. Attention is focused on the dangerous separation between doctor and patient, between whom medical equipment stands as an obstacle, which weakens interpersonal contacts that are so important in medicine. The information content and cost-effectiveness of traditional methods of physical examination, the convenience of dynamic observation, the value for early diagnosis of complications, the possibility of a reasonable choice of more complex research methods, and the positive impact of direct communication between the doctor and the patient are noted. The particular danger of hyposkillia in “first contact” physicians is emphasized, contributing to an increase in the number of patients losing time, and sometimes even chances for a cure, until a working diagnosis is made. The importance of a balanced approach to the use of high medical technologies and physical examination methods is shown.