Robotic Patients Used to Help Train Doctors

skeletor935 writes "Due to the increase in the number of medical students in Mexico, medical schools have turned to the use of robotic patients to assist in training." From the article: "The robots are dummies complete with mechanical organs, synthetic blood and mechanical breathing systems."

Robotic Patients and Train Doctors

[lcsjk]

Robotic Patients?

Train Doctors?

Do you see what I see!!

More Doctors? Amazing!

[dada21]

We could only wish our medical students in the US needed robots as test patients. Unfortunately there is a monopoly on doctors, and the problem will only get worse.

The AMA is a lobbying organization with complete control [lewrockwell.com] (last paragraph) over the number of doctors.

Mexico has not enacted these same licensing restrictions, and surely allows for more doctors who can be used outside the country. Mexicans are well known to send a great amount of income back home.

The downside is that our AMA is working to prevent foreign doctors from coming over so easily. This could mean lower medical prices in Mexico though.

Oh, it had to be said:

"I got gonorrhea!" -- Cosmo Kramer

A comparison of Mexican and American health care

[Anonymous Coward]

Since we're discussing medicine in México, I would like to chip in my two pesos about the experience of receiving medical care in México versus getting care in the US; I got care in both countries in the last month or so.

In México, the care I received was excellent. After being sick for three days with Montezuma's Revenge, my friend's cousin, who happens to be a doctor came by, asked me a number of questions in Spanish, looked me over, and gave me some antibiotics to stop the sickness along with a couple other medicines to help me. The examination and care was done very well. Total cost: $25 for house call doctor visit, $5 for medicines. By the evening, I felt great again.

When I came back to the US, I saw a doctor through Kaiser. The nurse treated me like a mechanical doll instead of a person. The doctor was good, but only very briefly examined me before telling me I had a virus and that there was basically nothing they could do. The cost for this care $25 co-pay, plus $200 a month to be on insurance to get this kind of care.

In México, they don't have to worry about malpractice lawsuits. A person can be a full-up doctor at 26 years of age (such as the doctor I saw down there). Here, one has to be about 30 before they can be a doctor; they spend more time in medical school and less time getting real-world hands-on experience. Most drugs can be obtained without prescription (the exception being addictive drugs like valium and what not)--this causes people to get antibiotics when they have viruses, unfortunatly.

Which one is better? I prefer the Mexican system; less HMO BS and more real care.

Speak for yourself... I live in Mexico.

[Spy der Mann]

Poor people in mexico have to go to the IMSS (a hospital system dedicated exclusively to Social Security). The service is awful, the medicines you have to buy them yourself, and most of the money is leeched for retired workers. There was a case where a woman had to buy the oxygen for her mother because there weren't O2 tanks at the hospital :-/

The management system is so bad that it needs a billionaire rescue before it collapses. And you thought the american social security was hard to maintain. Heh.

Re:More Doctors? Amazing!

[TheTwoBest]

I'm not sure exactly what program you are talking about. But there is currently a program, though both the Army and the Navy, that will pay for your medical school in exchange for your service. It works out that you serve one year of active duty for every year they pay, with a minimum of three years. They not only cover your tuition, but they also pay for your books and supplies, and give you a living stipend. So while it might not be the exact program you describe, it seems pretty close.

Re:A comparison of Mexican and American health car

[Anonymous Coward]

I live in Cancun. Your friend was ripped off. Which hospital and doctor was this ?