Doctors assume they know what needs to happen but find themselves frustrated that medicines are only half the answer.
 
We explore a shift in thinking as modern medicine rebalances itself to respond to the challenge of working with people rather than doing to patients.Around the country clinicians especially general practitioners, are increasingly frustrated that despite ever increasing workload, efforts go unrewarded.
 
There is a feeling that although we face a faster treadmill of consultations, blood tests, referrals, QOF targets, contract indicators and regulatory requirements, the law of diminishing returns still applies.

If we all agree that the medical model is outdated, why is it so resilient? This was one of the most insightful questions at the recent thought-provoking workshop for the Rethinking Medicine programme.

It was asked by Chris Van Tulleken, now a well-known media doctor, but back in the day a peer of mine at medical school. 
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It prompted me to reflect more on the nature of the medical model, my own experience of it as a GP, and why it’s so pervasive.

People come to see doctors with problems. They tell their story, the clinician examines them, clinches a diagnosis (perhaps after ordering a test or two) and then prescribes a fix. It’s that simple. Occasionally. 

Much more often, people come to see doctors with complex stories of dis-ease, or with multiple conditions, many with their roots in the social determinants of poor health.