ABSTRACT
The beginning clinical clerk, the house officer and the practicing physician are all confronted with conditions that are frustrating in every phase of medical action. The purpose of this article is to identify and discuss these conditions and point out solutions. To deal effectively with these frustrations it will be necessary to develop a more organized approach to the medical record, a more rational acceptance and use of paramedical personnel and a more positive attitude about the computer in medicine. Eventually, for every physician all three areas will be an obligatory part of his professional environment if he is to play a significant part in the total health-care job that will have to be done. The organization of the medical record should be a matter of immediate concern to practicing physicians and students; the degree of involvement of any individual practicioner with paramedical personnel and the computer will vary with the particular environment and facilities. Developments in all these fields are far more advanced and immediately applicable than many realize, and concern with them is neither premature nor impractical.
