Class Reflection

I have learned so much from this class. Mrs. Thomas made learning easier and more fun than boring. I had trouble with the length of the essays and thought I would never overcome this obstacle  but looking back from the beginning to the end I have made a huge change and on this last essay length wasn’t has hard as it was in the first essay. I now actually like writing though I’m not the best at it I don’t hate doing it as much as I used to in any of my other English classes. She made sure we knew what exactly was expected before it was due and was always available when needed. She gave us enough time to step by step get our paper started whether it was a research paper or another type of essay. I've learned new writing tools and the importance of annotating while reading. It is important to ask questions while you read to better your understanding. Using technology was so helpful. We didn't have to waste paper and turned everything in online which was so much better than writing out everything and having to keep up with so much stuff when we could just easily save everything to our computers and post everything to blackboard and on our blogs. There wasn't one thing we did in this class that did not better my understanding and make me a greater student. The research papers were my least favorite but I was able to better understand my topic, find different opinions, and learn more. I now don't dread research papers because I know the importance of doing them, I just don't look forward to donating so much time to finding sources that would be helpful. It is very frustrating. Reading Sway and Bridging the Difference were definitely helpful and also taught me so much. I know I will carry on everything that I learned in this class because of how useful everything we learned is. I couldn’t ask for a greater teacher I am more than glad that she was my composition one teacher. I thank Mrs. Thomas for teaching us all that she has and for her technique in which she taught everything. I really enjoyed this class and am so thankful for all she has done to better each and every student this semester. Thank you for your patience and time!

Final Essay Rough Draft

Chandler Hardee

Mrs. Thomas

Composition 1

December 7, 2012

Advances in Medical Technology

            The question is what can and can’t advances in technology do for us? There are many reasons why technological advances can be beneficial but also reasons why they can also become problematic. When dealing with someone else’s life this is not an issue that can be anything but serious. When someone’s life is on the line it is important to have technology that will create less problems and diagnose/treat the fastest most accurate way possible. The patients deserve to get the best care, treatment, and clear diagnosis. It’s not about making the nurses, doctors, and other workers lives easier but the patients and their families. It is important to compare the pros and cons of more advanced technology in healthcare and come up with a conclusion which allows for more benefits than problems.

            After reading an article titled, “Is Technological Change in Medicine Worth It?” by David M. Cutler and Mark McClellan, it’s obvious how beneficial the change in medical technology really is. This article looks at the five common conditions: heart attacks, low-birth weight infants, depression, cataracts, and breast cancer. Cutler and McClellan analyze these five conditions to figure is the technological change in medicine actually worth it. Cutler and McClellan state, “When costs and benefits are weighted together, technological advances have proved to be worth far more than their costs.” Having anything done medically at the time seems as if the cost is too much, but if you consider what will happen if you don’t get the necessary treatment and the overall cost and burden that may be put on you and your family in the future, you may find that the cost of medical treatment is worth far more than you consider at the time of diagnosis.     

            As shown in Sway, medical technology is extremely important when used correctly and efficiently. An innocent child’s life ended because of the misuse of technology. When not used properly terrible things can happen. In the preface the doctor disregarded the mother’s intuition multiple times that something was wrong with Amy. In the end Amy lost her life due to the doctor’s carelessness and neglect. If only the doctor would have used technology to figure what was wrong with Amy no matter how he felt about the situation her life could have been saved. Doctors who are diagnosis bias alter people’s opinions of healthcare based upon their mistakes such as the doctor who caused Amy to lose her life. When something bad happens in the medical field it is always serious. When you know or are related to someone who has had a bad experience with healthcare your opinion is automatically changed because of one person. Medical technology can be a good thing when used properly but when it’s not the situation can become detrimental.

            “More Americans Using High-Tech Medicine, CDC Finds,” by Sharyn Alfonsi and Courtney Hutchinson, really shows the problems we face today with the advances in technology. Alfonsi and Hutchinson make a really could point when stating, “CT scans can help doctors detect everything from kidney stones to cancer, but they pack a mega dose of radiation – as much as 500 times that of a conventional X-ray, which some health experts say raise the risk for cancer.” Knowing that something used so often to detect and help diagnose disorders can create a new and ever worse disease is a very scary thought. Americans taking more drugs, having more surgeries, and getting more tests done are also problems being faced in the medical industry (Alfonsi and Hutchinson 1). Another good point made by Alfonsi and Hutchinson is, “According to Dr. Nortin Hadler, professor of Medicine and Microbiology/Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of “Worried Sick” and “The Last Well Person,” we may be fooling ourselves as a society in thinking that all this technology is actually making us live longer.” Though technology can be a big reason people are living longer, there are many other factors that keep us healthy such as, eating right, watching our weight, and exercising. It is essential to remember the problems that too much technology can create and that there are other important ways to remain and become healthier.

            The article, “More Americans Using High-Tech medicine, CDC Finds,” by Alfonsi and Hutchison not only looks at the problems faced by the advancements in technology but the aids. Dr. Herb Kressel states in this article, “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re doing a better job…no doubt that in part [the decrease in mortality] is due to technology. The problem is how we use the resources effectively to prolong life and improve quality of life.” It is shown that technology is creating benefits and doing more good than bad. There is no way around the fact that there are problems. Kressel makes an extremely good point in this article when he states, “A substantial part of over-utilization of this technology is reflecting defensive medicine, where doctors fear that if they don’t provide every test, than they will be liable when they miss a diagnosis.” Behind the one of the biggest problems is an understandable answer. Doctors feel the need to protect themselves, as the doctor in Sway did not. No one wants the outcome caused by miss diagnosing.

            Essentially by researching this extremely important topic I have created my on opinion on the advancements in technology. I believe that the technology creates more benefits than problems. If we are able to find a way to somehow prevent the overuse of technology the biggest problem will be solved. Through research it is obvious that the cost of technology is not the problem. Though the cost of medical treatment is a lot when comparing it to what can be found, diagnosed, and prevented the cost is only a number. Medical technology helps save lives, and also makes others easier. Having a sister with medical problems I know first hand how important medical technology is, without technology my sister’s chiari one malformation would not have been found and treated and her severe scoliosis would not have been detected in time before she became crippled and her life at fifth-teen would have been changed forever. I am very thankful for the advancements in technology.