This article is interesting to me because it portrays a version of medicine which treats the patient as an integrated unit.
I think a physician who can interrogate issues more deeply in addition to treating symptoms is invaluable. Maybe someone’s weight is not just a function of their lifestyle or diet, but is also due to undiagnosed, low-level hypothyroidism, for example. I don’t know that a dietician can be expected to have the knowledge and expertise to treat issues like this. Who knows, with the rise of smart medicine we might be able to replicate such a care team through technology.
Also, unfortunately, quality of treatment is in large part a function of time. And in most countries, the level of medical attention one gets is very dependent on how much they can afford. I mean, even in places like Germany that have socialized medicine, the privately insured get better care, more time with their doctors, less time to schedule an appointment, etc.
Knowing that, this might be an insoluble problem until we automate the checklist-style medicine with chatbots and ML, and then reserve doctors for the tricky cases where DDx falters.