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Rapid response to:

Views & Reviews From the Frontline

What is the point of doctors?

BMJ 2013; 347 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f7380 (Published 10 December 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;347:f7380

Rapid Response:

Re: What is the point of doctors?

This was a good analysis of the current situation in clinical medicine. Clinical experience is needed not because we have limited investigations but because we have too many. Browsing the internet because of mild symptoms people find irrelevant threats which bring them to us, doctors.

The internet is full of information but seriously lacks sense of relevance. My role (as a private practitioner) is too often just to reassure my patients that there are no signs of any dangerous neurological diseases.

Competing interests: No competing interests

11 December 2013
Pertti J. Saloheimo
Clinical neurologist
Private practitioner
Lipparinne 6 D, 02720 Espoo, Finland