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

Primary care challenges: AI and virtual clinics

Nick Jenkins, MD
Physician
August 26, 2023
Share
Tweet
Share

As I clicked onto the homepage of Amazon Clinic, I got a little bit nervous. Low up-front costs, straight-forward medical decision-making, bread and butter medicine at the patient’s fingertips. Have a UTI? As long as it is simple, no problem, here’s your antibiotic. Just a few clicks. Male pattern baldness? Click. Erectile dysfunction? Click.

Just barebones medicine without the pesky face-to-face human interaction. And with easy-to-follow “guidelines,” we don’t even need doctors anymore. Let’s just give ChatGPT prescribing authority. He never gets tired, never gets burnt out, never has a family emergency, or asks for a raise. Are we, as doctors, fighting a losing battle?

Yes.

If the primary care doctors of America hope to maintain their place in patient care, then we need to rethink our strategy. AI is already smarter than us. Bots have blown the licensure exam out of the water, and ChatGPT can diagnose rare conditions faster and more accurately than us (at least on a test). Doctors are losing their authority as arbiters of “the truth” when it comes to medicine.

I can understand the need for virtual options in care. People love choice, and our system is primed for disruption. We are overworked. With constantly increasing documentation requirements and booming burnout rates, it has been harder to convince medical students to pursue careers in primary care.

Our system is simply not equipped to deal with the number of patients that are out there. Good doctors are getting hard to find. I frequently hear stories about patients waiting for weeks to see their PCP for routine issues and being sent to urgent care because the doctor is “too busy.” This isn’t good enough.

In September of last year, I left the grind of an academic hospitalist practice to start my own Direct Primary Care clinic. I did this to be more true to my original calling. I am still building my practice, but I love what I do. I get plenty of time to ruminate with my complex clients, and I am able to form the long-term relationships I longed for in my hospitalist days. I have learned more in the last six months than in the last six years. While DPC may not be the answer for the whole system, it has been the answer for me. I have experienced a new love for medicine.

To truly keep ourselves relevant in the age of AI and Amazon Clinic, we have to be true to ourselves—knowledge isn’t enough, nor are degrees or big, fancy buildings. We must rediscover the things that got us into medicine in the first place. We must rediscover our curiosity and the love of our fellow man. We can only save medicine by leveraging the thing that a computer will never have: our humanity.

Nick Jenkins is an internal medicine physician.

Prev

Navigating medical student loan repayment choices [PODCAST]

August 25, 2023 Kevin 0
…
Next

Confronting stereotypes: reflections of an Asian medical student

August 26, 2023 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Navigating medical student loan repayment choices [PODCAST]
Next Post >
Confronting stereotypes: reflections of an Asian medical student

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

  • The solution to a crumbling primary care foundation is direct primary care

    Sara Pastoor, MD
  • Primary Care First: CMS develops a value-based primary care program for independent practices

    Robert Colton, MD
  • Primary care colonialism: the impact of profit-driven health care on communities

    Michael Fine, MD
  • The demise of primary care in America

    Gregg Coodley, MD
  • The many benefits of strengthening the primary care workforce

    Nicole Liner-Jigamian, MSW
  • Primary care faces a very difficult winter

    Ken Terry

More in Physician

  • 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
  • Time theft: the unseen harm of abusive oversight

    Kayvan Haddadan, MD
  • Why more doctors are leaving clinical practice and how it helps health care

    Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA
  • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why starting with why can transform your medical practice

    Neil Baum, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

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

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • 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 peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | 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
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Clinical ghosts and why they haunt our exam rooms

      Kara Wada, MD | Conditions
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, 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

Leave a Comment

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
    • 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 peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | 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
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Clinical ghosts and why they haunt our exam rooms

      Kara Wada, MD | Conditions
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

      Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, 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

Leave a Comment

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

Loading Comments...