CLINICS –HAS IT REALLY BEEN REPLACED BY MODERN TECHNOLOGY? A QUALITATIVE STUDY.

Abstract

Background:One of the major concerns of today's medical education is the lack of basic clinical skill and over dependence on investigations among new generation tech savvy doctors. In this study we want to explore the perspective of new generation doctors about the relevance of clinics in present day medical practice. The objecti OBJECTIVES: ve of the study was to investigate the causes of the dominance of technology over the basic clinical skills in present day medical practice and to nd out the perceived solutions of this problem. This study was performed among resident doctors of different clinical bran Materials And Methods: ches working in a tertiary health care centre of Eastern India. The study comprised of in-depth interviews and focussed group discussions. The interviews were audio recorded and later transcripted. Data analysis was done through deductive approach. Results were reviewed by all the authors. The Results: overdependence on technologies among the new generation doctors are nothing but the reection of changing socioeconomic trends in modern day world. The principal causes are hyposkillia of doctors, commercialization of medical practice, pressure from patient's side, overuse of google knowledge & excessive misuse of legal means in the name of consumer protection act. Problem is multifactorial and a combined and sustained effort is needed for the solution. Lack of clinical skill leads to overdependence on technologies, t Conclusion: hat translates into excessive high treatment cost and poor patient outcome. Improvement of the clinical skills among present generation doctors can reduce the intensity of the problem.