Editor's Note: In this excerpt of a recent One-on-One interview, Malcolm Gladwell discusses with Medscape Editor-in-Chief Eric Topol, MD, the "doctors of the future." The New Yorker journalist, using his mother as an example, tells Dr Topol that what future—and, for that matter, current—doctors and patients need is more time.
"What [my mother] really wants is an individual physician in her life who knows her well, who listens to her, who she trusts and who she can periodically have extended conversations with," Mr Gladwell explains. "It matters less to her that she has access to world-class, cutting-edge technology because she is 85."
He adds, "We can change who we select for medicine all we want, but unless we change the nature of medical practice, it is pointless. We are just going to have brilliantly gifted doctors capable of having these kinds of discussions who are forced into a system where they have got to run the patients through an electronic treadmill."
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Cite this: Eric J. Topol. Malcolm Gladwell: Future Docs Need More Time, Not Technology - Medscape - Aug 18, 2015.
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