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Sep 2025 DOI 10.14302/issn.2768-0207.jbr-25-5706
Nakamura YusukeCorresponding author
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a transformative force across many sectors, with healthcare representing both one of the most promising and most challenging areas of application. This review summarizes current and future applications of AI in healthcare, focusing on its potential to improve diagnosis, therapy, chronic disease management, and overall patient care, while also alleviating physicians’ workload. Recent literature demonstrates that AI systems can reduce diagnostic errors/delays by mitigating cognitive biases, support imaging and pathology through improved accuracy and speed, and prevent prescribing errors by integrating pharmacogenomic and clinical data into decision-support systems. In chronic disease management, AI-powered wearable devices enable continuous monitoring and early detection of conditions such as atrial fibrillation, thereby reducing the risk of stroke and long-term disability, particularly in elderly people. Therapeutic applications include AI-driven drug discovery, personalized oncology, and tailored medicine that integrates multi-omics and lifestyle data. Beyond direct medical intervention, AI contributes by automating routine tasks, optimizing workflows, and facilitating greater patient–clinician interaction. Despite these benefits, significant challenges remain, including issues of data quality, privacy, security, equity, and the need for transparency and trust in “black box” systems. Looking ahead, the integration of multimodal data, digital twins, and robotics is expected to advance more comprehensive, equitable, and human-centered care. We conclude that, when applied ethically and responsibly, AI should not replace clinicians but rather serve as a powerful partner that enhances medicine by restoring empathy and humanity.
Dec 2020 DOI 10.14302/issn.2693-1176.ijgh-20-3613
Lawson HenryCorresponding author
Empathy has been described as a multi-dimensional construct with cognitive and emotional components, both of which are concerned about responsivity to others. It has been touted as a skill essential for medical practice and thus useful to all healthcare professionals. It has been assessed in several countries and among several healthcare cadres however, there is a yawning gap in Ghana about its level in medical students. This study utilised a cross-sectional design to assess empathy using the Multi-Dimensional Emotional Empathy Scale in medical students of the University in Ghana. The scale has an alpha reliability of 0.88. One hundred and eleven students, aged 24 years ±1.5 years completed the study. Overall, there were more males than females. The mean empathy score for the cohort was 101SD 13 and this was adjudged to be low. There was no statistical difference between age, gender and clinical year and empathy in this cohort. The authors recommend that empathy, especially its cognitive aspects, should be taught in medical school curriculum of the University of Ghana Medical School, Accra.
May 2020 DOI 10.14302/issn.2692-5257.ijgp-20-3335
Luis Turabian JoseCorresponding author
Specialist in Family and Community Medicine, Health Center Santa Maria de Benquerencia, Regional Health Service of Castilla la Mancha (SESCAM), Toledo, Spain
The consultation is the activity of meeting and communication between an individual and the doctor for the knowledge and solution of a health problem. In today's busy world of general medicine, constant demands for the general practitioner (GP) arise: she or he should not only make a diagnosis not only should make a differential diagnosis during consultation, but must also establish a good relationship, explore patient ideas, concerns and expectations and negotiate a management plan, taking into account limited resources, the quality framework and results, having Information technology skills, plus, the need to promote health during any consultation. Normally the GP has only 10 minutes to achieve all that, as well as to manage your own emotions, agendas and uncertainty. In this way, novice doctors may find it difficult to move in this situation of complexity, and they can also observe a gap in the literature that really guides them in practice. Rigorous preparation is the key to success for many endeavours. Some tips to perform an efficient and safe consultation work in general medicine are suggested: 1) Focus on the next patient; 2) Preparing the consultation before entering the patient, memorizing the patient's previous history; 3) Establishing a connection with the patient; 4) Remembering the elements that must be in each consultation (the current reason, update other previous processes, chronic diseases and continued attention, "case finding", health promotion); 5) Striking a balance between empathy and assertiveness; 6) Putting in writing and contextualized the clinical record; and 7) Making reflection-safety questions, learning questions, and preparation questions for the next visit. Rigorous preparation is the key to success for the general practitioner in every consultation. Think about these topics of the consultation before doing it, and after it, prepare the next consultation of that patient. All these things are force multipliers.
Nov 2018 DOI 10.14302/issn.2640-690X.jfm-18-2485
Luis Turabian JoseCorresponding author
Specialist in Family and Community Medicine, Health Center Santa Maria de Benquerencia. Regional Health Service of Castilla la Mancha (SESCAM), Toledo, Spain.
The transcendence of the doctor-patient relationship is given by the confirmed fact of its influence on the results of health care. Several models of doctor-patient relationship can be described, but evidence of improved compliance, satisfaction and recall of physician information has been found in patient-centered consultations. Since these concepts of doctor-patient relationship and patient-centered consultation have multiple facets, they are complex to understand and teach. Using a metaphor is a tool that can be useful in these situations. We could say that the "good" doctor-patient relationship is a process where an "alliance" is created: a process in which the doctor adapts to the rhythm of the patient and little by little can help him move towards healthier scenarios; that is, detect "what dance the patient dances and like a good dancer, take a step back, another forward, dancing and pacing with the patient. But there is not a single type of "good" or "adequate" doctor-patient relationship; there is not "a single dance that the patient dances". If "the doctor has to dance with the patient", he has to know that there are many types of dance! The doctor will have to dance dances such as Cha-Cha (which has to be slow or very fast to dance), the Mambo (where the music is faster and the rhythm more complicated - the relationship with an urgent patient); the Merengue (which is danced like walking - informal doctor-patient relationship); el Pasodoble (that you have to dance with a haughty air, but not with rigidity -synchronizing assertiveness and empathy); The Salsa (where you have to learn the basic step separately - discontinuity of the doctor-patient relationship), among others.