Lisa Sanders: Full Interview Summary
In just 25 years, your annual medical checkup will undergo a makeover that would make Marcus Welby, MD, think he'd stepped onto the set of Star Trek. There will be no waiting room; you will check yourself in on a digital tablet. Your doctor will still greet you wearing a stethoscope, but it will be outfitted with a mini-ultrasound tool so your MD can see, as well as hear, your heart rate and breathing. Even the standard physician's clipboard will get an upgrade — becoming a mini-tablet containing all of your digital medical records, and the entire global library of medical data.
These are just a few ways the practice of medicine (and the traditional annual physical) will change by 2050, according to Lisa Sanders, MD, professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine and medical director of Yale's Long Covid Multidisciplinary Care Center.
New technologies — artificial intelligence, electronic medical records, and other med-tech innovations — will make those sci-fi medical transponders Dr McCoy used on 'Star Trek' seem old-fashioned by comparison, Sanders says. She even believes an entirely new medical specialty will emerge: the 'diagnostician,' trained in how best to combine the latest medical technologies with the human touch MDs bring to their practices.
But one thing that won't change and may even become more central to the practice of medicine 25 years from now: The connection between doctor and patient.
'Now we have AI and I think that the potential for AI has been tremendous. But…it's still new,' she says. 'You know, people are already trying to get past the physical exam…but the physical exam was invented so that we could try to get a sense of what's going on inside the body. The exam...turns out to be very important… It's part of a relationship you have — an intimate relationship — with a patient.'
That's something Sanders says was emphasized during her treatment of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, when no medical technology could diagnose or treat the condition.
Welcome to Modern Medicine 2050.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Parents Urged to Make Kids' Bedtime Screen-Free as National Campaign Launches with NYC Flash Mob
"Screen-Free Sleep" movement takes to the streets to address America's youth sleep crisis NEW YORK, Aug. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In a bold wake-up call to parents everywhere, the team behind the acclaimed Screenagers documentaries and the "Away for the Day" campaign launched its latest national initiative on Tuesday, August 12th in NYC: Screen-Free Sleep, a movement to keep kids' bedrooms device-free at night and restore healthy rest to a generation in crisis. To mark the campaign's debut, New Yorkers were treated to an unexpected sight: an entire flash mob of Steve Jobs lookalikes - black turtlenecks, jeans, and all - took to the streets, handing out "iSleep Pro" kits: sleek, phone-style packaging featuring simple sleep masks as a symbol of unplugged rest. Billed as a "technological bedtime breakthrough," the iSleep Pro kits unveiled the real game-changer: no devices in kids' bedrooms at night - a practice the campaign is calling the seatbelt of our time. The message was clear: parents must wake up to the growing crisis - with phones and screens invading bedtime, children are sleeping less, struggling more, and paying the price with their health, mood, and academic performance. "Sleep is as essential to a child's health as nutrition and exercise,but right now, screens are robbing our kids of it," said Dr. Delaney Ruston, physician, filmmaker, and co-founder of the Screen-Free Sleep campaign. "Our campaign empowers parents to make bedrooms device-free at night, building habits that last through the teen years. By making screen-free sleep the norm, we can give our children the rest they need to thrive." The Alarming Numbers: 1 in 4 tweens sleep with their phone in hand. Kids with devices in their bedroom are 2.3x more likely to feel tired during the day. 51% of teens get fewer than 7 hours of sleep most nights. The Solution: Parents are encouraged to take the pledge at to: Remove all devices - phones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, gaming devices, even smart speakers - from kids' bedrooms at night. Provide a basic alarm clock to replace phone alarms. Store devices overnight in a secure location (ideally in a parent's bedroom to reduce temptation). Why It Matters: Research shows that simply having a device in the room, even if it's not in use, disrupts kids' sleep. Groundbreaking research shows that sleep deprivation in tweens is associated with MRI-verified disruptions in brain development. A device-free bedroom supports emotional regulation, attention, and school performance. How to Get Involved: Parents can sign the pledge, share the campaign with friends, and bring "iSleep Pro" kits to schools, sports events, and community gatherings to help normalize screen-free sleep - just as seat belts became standard safety practice. Assets & Interviews Available: Flash Mob & Campaign Photos: HERE Available experts: Dr. Delaney Ruston - Physician, filmmaker, founder of Screenagers & Screen-Free Sleep Judith Owens, MD, MPH, expert in pediatric sleep medicine, Boston Children's Hospital Lauren Hale, Phd, Sleep Expert, Renaissance School of Medicine, NY To learn more, visit For additional details or to arrange interviews, please contact kelly@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Screenagers Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
12 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Maine clinics hope to get blocked Medicaid funds restored as they sue Trump administration over cuts
PORTLAND, Maine — A network of clinics that provides health care in Maine is expected to ask a judge Thursday to restore its Medicaid funding while it fights a Trump administration effort to keep federal money from going to abortion providers. President Donald Trump's policy and tax bill, known as the ' big beautiful bill ,' blocked Medicaid money from flowing to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. The parameters in the bill also stopped funding from reaching Maine Family Planning, a much smaller provider that provides health care services in one of the poorest and most rural states in the Northeast.
Associated Press
12 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Maine clinics hope to get blocked Medicaid funds restored as they sue Trump administration over cuts
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A network of clinics that provides health care in Maine is expected to ask a judge Thursday to restore its Medicaid funding while it fights a Trump administration effort to keep federal money from going to abortion providers. President Donald Trump's policy and tax bill, known as the ' big beautiful bill,' blocked Medicaid money from flowing to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. The parameters in the bill also stopped funding from reaching Maine Family Planning, a much smaller provider that provides health care services in one of the poorest and most rural states in the Northeast. Maine Family Planning filed a federal lawsuit last month seeking to restore reimbursements. Lawyers and representatives for Maine Family Planning say its 18 clinics provide vital services across the state including cervical cancer screenings, contraception and primary care to low-income residents. They also say the funding cut occurred even though Medicaid dollars are not used for its abortion services. 'Without Medicaid, MFP will be forced to stop providing all primary care for all patients — regardless of their insurance status — by the end of October,' the organization said in a statement, adding that about 8,000 patients receive family planning and primary care from the network. It also said many Maine Family Planning clinics 'provide care in very rural areas of the state where there are no other health care providers, and around 70% of their patients rely exclusively on MFP and will not see any other health care provider in a given year.' In court documents, Anne Marie Costello, deputy director for the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services, called the request to restore funding 'legally groundless' and said it 'must be firmly rejected.' 'The core of its claim asks this Court to revive an invented constitutional right to abortion — jurisprudence that the Supreme Court decisively interred — and to do so in a dispute over federal funds,' Costello said. While advocates of cutting Medicaid for abortion providers focused on Planned Parenthood, the bill did not mention it by name. Instead it cut off reimbursements for organizations that are primarily engaged in family planning services — which generally include things such as contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests — and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023. The U.S. Senate's parliamentarian rejected a 2017 effort to defund Planned Parenthood because it was written to exclude all other providers by barring payments only to groups that received more than $350 million a year in Medicaid funds. Maine Family Planning asserts in its legal challenge that the threshold was lowered to $800,000 this time around to make sure Planned Parenthood would not be the only entity affected. It is the only other organization that has come forward publicly to say its funding is at risk.
