Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Let’s not become a nation of physician-robots

Diana Londoño, MD
Physician
December 24, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

My 5-year-old proudly told me during lunch, “Did you know animals don’t cry?” When she told me this, I had to think about it and then immediately Google this. Having small kids teaches you many random facts, including that sharks don’t blink because they don’t have eyelids.

So, when she told me her new fact, I was intrigued.

Animals, unlike humans, do not have a prefrontal cortex.

This is an area of the brain involved in planning, decision-making, and processing emotions. Living beings can have primitive needs such as fear, hunger, and need for sleep, but a key difference is that we have feelings such as disappointment, excitement, tranquility, optimism, or motivation, to name a few.

We also can feel extreme sadness or happiness that leads us to tears. While animals produce tears, this is only to lubricate their eyes, not to cry. Animals do not have this complex processing of emotions, and neither do robots.

As much as we can build algorithms for computers, they cannot detect the nuances of what makes us human, which is the ability to have and process feelings.

What have we learned in medical training?

In medicine, we have been trained to be goal-focused, assertive, determined to achieve goals, and have left little space to balance out processing all the emotions that come with being a human and a physician.

As physicians each day seeing patients, we may feel frustrated, grateful, disheartened, defeated, connected, excited, uncomfortable, all within a span of 15 minutes.

However, we are trained like soldiers to stay focused on the task at hand, which is seeing a multitude of patients, finish completing a day-long ritual of a million computer clicks, making sure all requirements are done to reach a certain billing criterion. But are we allowing space to be present and process the patient’s fear, doubt or anger as well as ours?

If we do not feel comfortable processing and acknowledging our own emotions, how can we then be present for others? Most patients feel “listened” to when we ask about symptoms but are we truly listening and enquiring about the feelings they are experiencing? Everyone wants to be truly “listened” to and acknowledged, and that goes beyond the superficial: “How are you today?”

Stopping to discuss our feelings with a colleague is usually a process that is not welcomed, as we only have a limited time to discuss what we are doing that day, or maybe to discuss a patient’s symptom, diagnosis, or treatment. We repress what we are feeling about our day or a patient’s encounter. Yet, if we do not label and process our emotions, they will not go away, but instead, they will show their toll one way or another in due time.

Even in the morbidity and mortality conferences held in surgical departments, we will spend an entire hour, splitting the minutiae of how an error can be prevented but leave no time to discuss how the presenter is feeling not only during but after such presentation.

ADVERTISEMENT

I know presenting has caused me to feel fear, shame, anxiety, inadequacy, and quickly it will transform into imposter syndrome if left unprocessed. But who is helping us during these normal human experiences? This is never discussed as we are expected to carry on the day as if the tumultuous number of feelings has not coursed through our mind and body.

Why is acknowledging feelings, discussing them, and processing so important?

Because it is the essence of what makes us human and differentiates us from animals or robots. Expressing emotions can connect us because we understand we are not alone in feeling frustrated, nervous, shame or guilt.

We all feel it. We are just not “allowed” to express it. Many times, we have been told in medicine not to be too emotionally involved or overwhelmed by the emotions we are experiencing — as if this makes us a better physician.

How can we proceed?

In medicine and health care, this is a time to train, act, and lead with a goal of focus and determination and compassion.

With compassion, we build awareness and understanding that we are human, imperfect, and full of feelings and emotions, which gives life its richness, depth, dimension, and complexity.

So, the question is: how do we want to continue?

Do we want to continue to be a nation of physician robots devoid of feelings, impersonal, distanced, and aloof to the human in front of us? Or do we want to embrace our own humanity and dive into the essence of who we truly are? It may be uncomfortable, but anything worthwhile is.

So, let’s be uncomfortable and change the narrative to truly get to a place where we can fully express our humanity.

Let us incorporate in our days and interactions the awareness of how we are feeling, let us show up in our day, and be given the permission to feel, process, and express our emotions so that we can then do the same for our colleagues and patients. Let’s sprinkle these opportunities in our days, activities and meetings so that it is no longer a small part of what we do but becomes the essence of who we are in health care.

Let us bring back the basics of our humanity. Robots have a role, but let them continue to assist us, not replace us.

Diana Londoño is a urologist and can be reached at her self-titled site, Dr. Diana Londono, on Twitter @DianaLondonoMD, and on her blog. She is one of the 10 percent of U.S. urologists who are women, and 0.5 percent who are Latina and female. 

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Think again: Get a second opinion

December 24, 2021 Kevin 3
…
Next

A holiday greeting card from the land of primary care

December 24, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Think again: Get a second opinion
Next Post >
A holiday greeting card from the land of primary care

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Diana Londoño, MD

  • From healers to influencers: How fear took over health care advice

    Diana Londoño, MD
  • How belief and prayer uncover the hidden power of healing

    Diana Londoño, MD
  • How embracing vulnerability transforms pain into power

    Diana Londoño, MD

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • How a physician keynote can highlight your conference

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Chasing numbers contributes to physician burnout

    DrizzleMD
  • The black physician’s burden

    Naomi Tweyo Nkinsi
  • Why this physician supports Medicare for all

    Thad Salmon, MD
  • Embrace the teamwork involved in becoming a physician

    Nathaniel Fleming

More in Physician

  • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • Why enterprise risk management is key to value-based health care success

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Rethinking physician resilience for sustainable well-being

    Sarah Webber, MD
  • How shared language saved a patient from isolation

    Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD
  • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

    Curtis G. Graham, MD
  • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

    Jessie Mahoney, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why telling kids to eat less and move more fails to address obesity

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • Why enterprise risk management is key to value-based health care success

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Rethinking physician resilience for sustainable well-being

      Sarah Webber, MD | Physician
    • How shared language saved a patient from isolation

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 6 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why telling kids to eat less and move more fails to address obesity

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • Why enterprise risk management is key to value-based health care success

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Rethinking physician resilience for sustainable well-being

      Sarah Webber, MD | Physician
    • How shared language saved a patient from isolation

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Let’s not become a nation of physician-robots
6 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...