Medical Advances Have Not Improved Care Quality, Argues Veteran Doctor
Osvaldo Besasso, a physician who graduated in 1963, reflects on the transformation of medicine over the last sixty years. He argues that while medical knowledge and technology have made gigantic leaps, the quality of patient care has deteriorated. Besasso contends that the traditional artisanal approach—relying on interrogation and physical examination—has been replaced by an over-dependence on laboratory tests and imaging. This shift, driven by distorted prepaid medicine systems and low pay, forces doctors to act as 'providers' focused on volume rather than patient connection. The article highlights how this detachment leads to misdiagnoses and unnecessary procedures. Besasso illustrates this with an anecdote about a difficult patient, 'Fat Olmos Ferrari,' who insisted on surgery for a herniated disc based on an image, despite his symptoms not matching the finding. The surgeon mistakenly operated on the wrong side, proving Besasso's point that treating images instead of people leads to failure. The piece emphasizes that solidarity, communication, and clinical judgment are irreplaceable elements of effective healthcare that modern systems often neglect.
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Medical Advances Have Not Improved Care Quality, Argues Veteran Doctor
Osvaldo Besasso, a physician who graduated in 1963, reflects on the transformation of medicine over the last sixty years. He argues that while medical knowledge and technology have made gigantic leaps, the quality of patient care has deteriorated. Besasso contends that the traditional artisanal approach—relying on interrogation and physical examination—has been replaced by an over-dependence on laboratory tests and imaging. This shift, driven by distorted prepaid medicine systems and low pay, forces doctors to act as 'providers' focused on volume rather than patient connection. The article highlights how this detachment leads to misdiagnoses and unnecessary procedures. Besasso illustrates this with an anecdote about a difficult patient, 'Fat Olmos Ferrari,' who insisted on surgery for a herniated disc based on an image, despite his symptoms not matching the finding. The surgeon mistakenly operated on the wrong side, proving Besasso's point that treating images instead of people leads to failure. The piece emphasizes that solidarity, communication, and clinical judgment are irreplaceable elements of effective healthcare that modern systems often neglect.
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