The Trending Criticism

There is a current trend on social media, especially Facebook. Maybe it's because I spend more time on it than on any other social media platform.

The trend is talking down on Nigerian doctors, claiming that they now use AI tools to make diagnoses and treat patients.

Let me share a little personal experience so you can understand better.

Some time ago, my sibling, who is a computer science student, used my ChatGPT to check a few things. When I went back to my chats and saw the prompts he had entered, I took some time to go through them and realised that I barely understood what he was asking or trying to achieve with those prompts.

I also have a friend who is a fashion designer. On one occasion, she borrowed my phone and went straight to my ChatGPT to make some enquiries and carry out a few tasks related to her work. When I later went through her prompts, I realised that I couldn't have come up with those prompts myself, at least not in the way she did.

Why? Because our areas interests, and expertise are different.

Asides from having fun and discussing some personal matters with my AI, I also ask questions about nursing, physiology, anatomy, and other subjects related to my field.

The point is simple: we can use ChatGPT in ways that align with our knowledge, interests, career and fields.

If my sibling uses ChatGPT to work through a computer science problem, does that automatically make him incompetent? If my friend uses it to explore fashion ideas or improve her designs, does that mean she's not a good fashionista?

No!!!

The same principle applies to healthcare professionals. A doctor who uses ChatGPT or another AI tool to explore clinical information, review possible diagnoses, or support decision making is not demonstrating unprofessionalism.

Using a support tool to improve your work does not automatically mean you lack the knowledge to do that work.

I am neither a medical doctor nor a medical student. I am a nursing student, but I can confidently say that the way people are tagging doctors as unprofessional and dependent on AI is disheartening.

I hope that these critics who are also Nigerians know that Nigeria is lagging in terms of technology, and the healthcare sector is not left out.

There is something called EMR (Electronic Medical Records), which helps in documenting patients' clinical data and give medical professionals to access that information whenever they need it.

With EMR, you do not need to keep looking for your file at the GOPD. You do not have to worry as much about missing files, test results, and other important information because everything can be documented electronically.

Your information including your vital signs can get to the doctors even before you get to see them.

So, when you see a doctor looking at a screen, he is not necessarily asking AI what to do with or for you. He could be documenting useful information, going through your medical history, or information to help the healthcare team provide holistic care.

Yes, some Doctors do but they do not necessarily rely solely on AI for diagnosis or treatment.

During the first phase of my clinical posting, whenever medical students came with their consultants for ward rounds, they were asked questions based on the patients they were seeing. Sometimes, they answered correctly, while other times, the consultants gave them clues on how to arrive at better answers.

They did all these without looking at their phones.

So, imagine spending more than seven years acquiring medical knowledge and undergoing rigorous training, only to end up being labelled an AI doctor.

The use of support tools can be for confirmation, exploring additional possibilities, or supporting clinical reasoning. It is like two or three colleagues coming together to rack their brains, discuss possible diagnoses, and work towards finding a solution to your health problem.

The use of AI by a doctor is entirely different from a client using it independently.

A doctor has medical training and clinical experience to interpret information, and make informed decisions.

AI, on the other hand, cannot replace a physical examination, proper clinical assessment, or professional medical judgment.

Even when you use ChatGPT to ask questions about your symptoms, it may advise you to see a healthcare professional. So, why should a doctor using AI as an additional tool automatically become a problem?

When doctors ask you to carry out a series of tests so they can confirm their differential diagnoses, you still tag them as unprofessional.

Meanwhile their goal is to arrive at an accurate diagnosis and provide appropriate treatment, not to subject you to endless laboratory investigations.

Yet, you still tag them as unprofessional?

When you are sick, tense, anxious, and agitated, your veins might not be visible or easy to access. This could mean having to endure a few more needle pricks before a healthcare professional successfully accesses your vein.

And you still tag them as unprofessional?

Of course, healthcare professionals can make mistakes, and they should be held accountable when they do. The point is not that doctors are above criticism. Rather, criticism should be done constructively.

You criticise them when they request investigations.

You criticise them when they use technology.

You criticise them when they try different approaches to ensure that you receive appropriate care.

If they don't investigate enough, you complain. If they request investigations, you complain. If they use available tools to support their clinical decisions, you call them incompetent doctors.

What exactly do you want?

If after reading my view on this matter and you still think that the doctors described here are still not competent enough to treat you then I think it's time you made a difference.

Yes, it's high time you made that difference yourself!

Studying medicine in Nigeria is not hard, especially in federal universities.

Then, you can make the difference you want to see.

Technology is evolving, and healthcare should not be left behind

Let's learn to distinguish between using technology to enhance professional practice and depending on technology without understanding what we are doing. They are not the same thing.

Our healthcare professionals deserve constructive criticism when necessary, but they also deserve fairness, understanding, and recognition of the demanding work they do.
Many thanks for reading!