Doctor as designer
This might be a very crazy idea, but I guess in the near future, doctors may work or think just as designers, they can design treatment solutions or instruments for their patients, they can design their own working environment, they can run co-creation workshop to discuss difficult case studies with other doctors, or maybe there will be a new profession called “Doc-signer”…
I have this idea in my mind for a long time, maybe it because I grew up in a family where all my family members are working in the healthcare industry, some of them are doctors, others are working in the pharmacy related companies…So growing up I heard a lot of stories about the healthcare system, the doctor-patient relationship etc., which have a strong influence on me, especially when I was choosing my career pathway.
On the one hand, I really admire doctors who can save lives or improve patients’ living condition, on the other hand, I also enjoy coming up with the innovative solutions to deal with the practical problems in people’s life.
When I was very hesitated and confused about my future career, I read the stories of Joyce Lee, who is a Physician, Designer, and Researcher. She integrated design into her day to day clinical work and believes that Design in healthcare will become the norm, just like Design in business did. (Lee, J, 2018)
At some points, I realized that although working as a doctor and working as a designer sound very different, actually they have more things in common than I thought.
Try to image:
- What if design thinking is part of the courses for medical students?
Design as a science or way of thinking (Herbert A. Simon,1969)
Design Thinking is not an exclusive property of designers, it is very useful in tackling problems that are ill-defined or unknown in various areas. (What is Design Thinking, 2018)
So before these medical students becoming real doctors, if they can have the basic knowledge of human-centered design and iterative design process consisting of 5 steps — Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test, I am sure there will be a huge difference. It will be much easier for them to understand what the patients really need and to find the most appropriate way to communicate with them.
- What if doctors can design their own working spaces or instruments in order to provide the best treatment for their patients?
The quality of doctors’ work and their work efficiency greatly depend on their working environment, we can always hear a lot of complaints about the terrible working spaces design from the medical staff, especially in some developing countries where the general quality of healthcare is very low.
So if we give the rights to doctors and to let them design their own working spaces or even their own tools, maybe they will work more efficiently and with more passion.
- What if doctors can run Co-creation workshop with other experts to come up with creative solutions for difficult case studies
As the designers, we all know the importance of using collective intelligence to deal with some great challenges, and we all know how productive we could be when we are working as a team. It’s the same for doctors if they have more opportunities to exchange their knowledge and to brainstorm together, it could be really helpful to solve some complicated medical problems.
References
What is Design Thinking? (2018) Available at: https://www.interaction design.org/literature/topics/design-thinking/ (Accessed 19 February 2019).
Designer, D. as, 2018. Dear Medical Designer. Doctor as Designer.Available at: https://medium.com/@joyclee/dear-medical-designer-a97336c9528a (Accessed 19 February 2019).
William, H. (2013). DOCTOR WHO 50th ANNIVERSARY. [image] Available at: http://www.moc-pages.com/moc.php/374945 [Accessed 19 February 2019].
