Overspecialization

Specializing in the field of medicine is the primary means by which someone becomes an expert. The idea being that a person can study and research one topic to the point where they know every bit of information there is to know about that subject. The generalist is fading away, and maybe to the detriment of the patient.

Seeing patterns is something the human brain has developed an excellent ability to do. Taking in information, connecting pieces that initially appear to be unrelated and connecting them to solve a complex problem is creative intelligence. Specializing has limited this creative endeavor. As specialists grow in number, the myopic viewpoint does as well. As someone who has dedicated themselves to one area of interest, they have limited their field of vision.

Providing high quality care to patients requires taking in large amounts of information, synthesizing it, and developing a potential solution to a problem. If I have spent numerous hours studying problems at the knee, and a patient arrives for treatment with a knee issue, the odds of me searching elsewhere for the origin are slim. Knee issues are rarely due to a knee problem, they are an outcome. Myopia may hinder my ability to help if I do not take an all-encompassing viewpoint.

 The ability to both zoom in and zoom out is a skill that is diminishing in modern healthcare. As we shift toward specialization, we may be losing our ability to consider the entirety of a patient’s problem. As a physical therapist I do not have the ability to order blood work, nor imaging studies like MRIs. What I do have is the patient’s report, the clinical measurements and past experience. Combining these bits of information is how I make decisions regarding a patient’s care, and the lack of very specific tests, affords me the ability to both isolate and synthesize.

Austin Ulrich, Physical Therapist