The Doctor of the Future: Interview With Professor Des Gorman

There is a pragmatic case for beginning the health service planning cycle by explicitly defining the role of the doctor of the future. A successful doctor of the future could be defined as the General Practitioner who realises a need in certain services and retrains consistently.
The Doctor of the Future must be 're-deployable' and determine the needs of a community first, and then look at studying a service that takes into account these realities. We cannot predict health needs first, as they change almost constantly. This interview also outlines that in the future, doctors should have training in psychology, sociology, anthropology (taught in an applicable way) because if we are to change unhealthy behaviours, one needs to understand the sociological reasons behind it.
Professor Gorman makes the point that the ability of Australasian Governments to identify, fund and deliver desirable health services will be increasingly challenged by an ageing population, escalating costs of health-related technology and by increasing consumer expectations. Any consequential health system planning must be predicated on the intrinsic uncertainties in identifying and measuring "demand and supply", and be flexible.
Professor Des Gorman is interviewed by Dr Norman Swan.
Produced by the Rural Health Education Foundation
www.rhef.com.au/