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Neurosurgeon Eric Eskioglu, MD, Addresses Physician Shortage and AI’s Role in Healthcare

March 06, 2023

• Physician shortages are expected to worsen, and machine learning and AI can help address this problem, according to neurosurgeon Eric Eskioglu, MD.
• AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery by reducing the cognitive load on physicians and improving patient outcomes through data-driven insights.
• The integration of AI in healthcare is becoming increasingly important. Despite concerns about its impact on the healthcare workforce, it is expected to enhance physician skills and play a critical role in the future of healthcare.

Neurosurgeon Eric Eskioglu, MD, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has expressed worries regarding the situation in the healthcare sector. The supply and demand for medical services are increasingly out of balance since half of practicing physicians are over 55, especially in light of the growing senior population and complex medical conditions. The exact temporary staffing solutions that have evolved in the nursing industry will soon be seen in the medical profession, especially among millennials and Gen Zs, according to Dr. Eskioglu, who expects this trend will result in a scarcity of doctors.

For the healthcare sector, the physician shortage is a significant concern. According to Dr. Eskioglu, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) will be essential in solving this problem. Physician burnout can result from doctors needing help to stay up with the latest research because medical knowledge doubles every 72 days. Physicians can reduce their cognitive load and concentrate on using higher judgment problem-solving skills to care for their patients by using AI to assign the task of memory and patient data search.

While not a new idea, the integration of AI in healthcare has grown in importance in light of the difficulties the sector is currently experiencing. AI has already benefited patient diagnosis and treatment, so its potential to revolutionize healthcare services is astounding. AI can improve patient outcomes and lower the possibility of medical errors by providing physicians with data-driven insights.

Despite the immense potential of AI, there are worries about how it will affect the healthcare sector. The possibility of physicians and other healthcare workers losing their jobs is one of the key worries. Physicians will not be replaced by AI, according to Dr. Eskioglu; instead, it will enhance their skills and free them up to concentrate on essential parts of patient care.

In conclusion, the healthcare sector is dealing with serious issues, such as a lack of doctors and a rise in the demand for more sophisticated medical services. Dr. Eskioglu thinks that machine learning and artificial intelligence can assist in overcoming these difficulties by enabling doctors to assign mundane duties to AI, lessening the cognitive load on doctors and allowing them to devote more time to higher judgment problem-solving abilities. AI will play an increasingly significant role in providing healthcare services as the healthcare sector changes.