[sarchertech]

My wife is a pediatric ER doctor. She’s board certified in pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine. Here’s a scenario that regularly plays out.

Someone she’s knows calls her up late and says their child has a minor fever, upset stomach or some other mild symptom. They ask “should I go to the ER or can I just wait till tomorrow to go to the pediatrician?”

My wife says it’s totally fine to wait until tomorrow. That is not an emergency. And frequently she’ll tell them they don’t even need to go to their pediatrician unless it gets worse or continues for several days.

9/10 what happens is that the person goes to the ER or their pediatrician first thing in the morning and calls my wife to tell her “you were right, it wasn’t an emergency”.

Despite that my wife is more highly trained than either their pediatrician or a non-pediatric ER doctor, and they know and trust her, they still wanted to see someone in person.

It doesn’t matter how accurate AI diagnosis gets, that’s not going to change anytime soon.

[red75prime]

> they still wanted to see someone in person.

Well, that someone might use AI diagnostic tools too.

[sarchertech]

They might. But they don’t want to talk to someone with a 6 week course who reads a diagnosis from a tablet. They want to talk to an expert.

Physicians have to understand the diagnosis and treatment plan. At the end of the day, they are legally responsible for the patient.