The MSBA Class of 2015 recently visited The Chamber of Commerce to speak with Rich Cooper, the VP of Emerging Crisis. Mr. Cooper explained to us about the goings on in today’s world, but more importantly, what is going on in tomorrow’s world. One of the topics we spoke about was technology and how it is changing our world constantly, especially in the world of medicine and healthcare.
I’ve always been interested in healthcare and medicine, I grew up around it, and I find what our hospitals and doctors are capable of fascinating. We have the ability to save lives, and with technology today, those odds are only improving. One of my favorite courses I took as an undergrad was Biomedical Ethics. This class taught us all of the ethical issues our doctors face when treating their patients, and how medical decisions are becoming increasingly more difficult as our technology improves.
“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction” - Albert Einstein.
Ethically, we have an obligation to do what is best for the patient. Family members can unfortunately get in the way (not all of the time, but it happens), and in regards to technology I’ve always thought, just because we can do it does not mean we should. There is a lot of gray area when dealing with medicine, and I believe it needs to be done by a case by case basis. However, I have faith in our doctors to make the best decisions, and to not just rely on the technology. It will be interesting to see what our future holds with medical technology, as it is constantly changing.
