[athenot]

I don't think RNs need to feel threatened. If anything, medical technology will enhance their status and make doctors more dispensable. Nurses are the ultimate interface between the medical system and the patient.

Right now, there is a trend to allow NP (Nurse Practitioners) a greater autonomy in what they can do. While they still work under the authority of a physician, that's becoming more and more of a rubber-stamp.

More and more doctor activities can be replaced with an algorithm. Diagnoses are made before even seeing the patient and only rely on data from nurses and EMRs. That's the territory of software right there. (Of course this is not to say docs are obsolete, but their work can shift to research. And (at least for now) surgery remains more cost-effective if done by docs than by robots.)

[Brakenshire]

I think you're being far, far too gung-ho about the demise of doctors. Their presence might be at risk over 50-100 years, but for the foreseeable future technology will act primarily as an aid, not as an independent decision maker, and time saved for medical staff will just be reallocated to other clinical tasks.

[mathattack]

Many times professionals do have valid self interest to fight innovation in their field.

Great teachers (and even good ones) shouldn't fear organizational innovations like charter schools, or technological innovation like blended learning. Many times they do fear these, especially when they (teachers) organize.

[hershel]

> but their work can shift to research.

Can we use that much researchers ? what are the other barriers assuming doctors are willing ?