Journal Article: PDF OnlyThe physician's role in a world of technologyHowell, J D Author Information Department of History, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, USA. jhowell@umich.edu Created Date: 15 April 1999; Completed Date: 15 April 1999; Revised Date: 25 February 2002 Academic Medicine: March 1999 - Volume 74 - Issue 3 - p 244-7 Free Abstract Technology has come to dominate the medical world over the past 100 years. Some of this technology has come from science and some has been imported from the world of business. Some technology exists in the form of physical objects; other technology takes the form of systems and organization. Technology to manage information has played a particularly critical role in changing how medicine is practiced. Those who choose to apply the latest technologies to patient care do so in ways that are not merely a reflection of some “objective” set of scientific data. Rather, the use of technology transforms both the clinical encounter and the technology itself, and in so doing reflects the values of those who created and those who use the technology. Despite the many ways that technology has come to be used for medical care over the course of the past century, the role of the physician has remained central. © 1999 Association of American Medical Colleges
