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cmcewen t1_j9dcg74 wrote

Reply to comment by jazzageguy in Which medical specialties are future proof? by MeronDC

If I know one thing it would be to never assume we know what is possible in the future.

But I can safely say that AI and robotics is not anywhere close to autonomous surgery right now. But who knows in 30 years where things will be.

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jazzageguy t1_j9dcwog wrote

I hope it's not rude to say this to a surgeon, but in 30 years I very much hope for surgery to be rare, and for most diseases to be prevented and/or treated by genetic manipulation. Future generations will look at surgery as we look at bloodletting.

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jazzageguy t1_j9dde7m wrote

By "diseases" I include those of aging, and aging itself. I don't see why cell death should be the norm after we figure out how to keep cells healthy. I think the present human lifespan is a historical accident, limited because in the resource-limited past we had to make room for new generations, and the idea of a finite lifespan has, so to say, outlived its usefulness.

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cmcewen t1_j9dft2y wrote

No offense taken. I spend half my day talking people out of surgery

I suspect There will always be surgery. Some problems are simply a mechanical problem that can’t be fixed any other way. How can a hernia be fixed without surgery? It’s a structural issue. How can dead bowel be fixed without removing it?

Surgery will always be a component, but you’re right that it’ll always be changing. And we already do much less surgery on people than we used to and we use minimally invasive techniques.

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jazzageguy t1_j9dgina wrote

I didn't say NO surgery. Do we really do less than before? I hadn't known that.

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