65. Reading Skills Comprehension : Doctor

Doctor

Read the passage given below carefully.

1.It was 200 years ago that a French doctor when examining a female patient rolled up sheets of paper and placed them to her heart instead of pitting his ear to her chest. This single act gave birth to that universal marker of medical practice, the stethoscope. Over two centuries this device has travelled widely and is now seen in S&M shops, toy stores, medical exam rooms. Unfortunately on its two hundredth birthday, instead of celebration, there’s the talk of dispatching the stethoscope to the morgue. Last week, Jagat Narula, a cardiologist provocatively claimed: ‘The stethoscope is dead.’

2. In 2014, Indian born 15-year-old Suman Mulumudi invented the Steth 10 in Seattle. He is one among several who have come up with alternatives to the regular stethoscope. His invention is essentially heart and lung sound and converts them into a spectrogram which can be annotated an iPhone case that amplifies and stored for future reference. The device is on the market. Besides this, there are other choices on the market. Others have cited a portable ultrasound machine as a possible successor. An FDA approved digital stethoscope that records the sounds of a patient’s heart and transmits it into an app is also around. The clip stored in the cloud can be transferred for a second opinion anywhere in the world. Some stethoscope apps play doctor and deliver snap diagnosis by applying algorithms to match the patient’s recordings with a re-programmed index of common sounds detected for listening to internal sounds of the body.

3. The gains, experts say, are greater diagnostic accuracy, real-time results and streamlined treatment that saves the patient time and money by eliminating superfluous tests and medication. But not all Indian doctors are convinced about it. Dr Vinita Arora maintains that technology is what you tell technology. Good history taking and listening to a patient can never be substituted. If the machine misses even one sign the diagnosis could be incorrect. According to another doctor, Dr CT Deshmukh, ninety per cent of doctors can’t do without a stetho, but some others point out stethos stand-ins will not penetrate the Indian market until the new digital devices are introduced to students right at medical school. According to Dr Neelesh Bhandari, when you go to techno conferences you realize that stethoscopes are going out because apps and mobile devices are more accurate and tell you more.’ For manufacturers of steel stethoscopes their devices are a bargain at ? 500 too! 2000. Even though electronic stethoscopes have been available for several years you will seldom come across them in use.

4. The economics of operating the next-gen stethoscope may prove a hurdle in India. Logistically the steep imbalance between doctor-patient ratio — 6 doctors to every 10,000 people could suppose that quicker, more efficient tools with telemedicine capabilities would have sped up diagnosis. But then again 80% of the population is treated in rural India where steady electricity is a luxury.

5. This is why other doctors feel that it is not yet time for the stethoscope to exit although they believe that will undoubtedly come. For the present, the convention is suggestive of the doctor’s authority because when a patient sees an individual with a stethoscope they feel reassured that they are in capable hands and feel on the way to recovery. Moreover, if you take away the symbol you take away the placebo effect of the doctor.

6. Finally, it is worthwhile to remember that a conventional stetho may not relay messages but it has always had a processor-between the ear tips.

(I) On the basis of your understanding of the passage answer the following questions with the help of the given options:

(a) The French doctor examining a woman patient ———————–

(i) rolled up his sleeve

(ii) rolled up sheets of paper

(iii) placed a paper to his ear

(iv) invented the stethoscope

(b) The stethoscope can now be seen in———————–

(i) medical operating rooms, toy shops

(ii) toy shops and sports goods ‘3

(iii) medical examination rooms and toy shops are

(iv) bookstores and hospitals

(c)The stethoscope has been in use for ———————

(i) a century

(ii) 200 years

(iii) since 2014

(iv) before the computer age

(d)The digital stethoscope records——————

(i) the patient’s heartbeat and stores it in its memory

(ii) the heartbeat and transmits it to the iPhone

(iii) the heartbeat and warns the doctor

(iv) the patient’s heartbeat and stores it in an app

(II) Answer the following questions briefly.

(a) Who is Suman Mulumudi?

(b) What is special about Mulumudi’s invention?

(d) Why will the digital stethoscope prove a hurdle in India?

(e) What is Dr Vinita Arora’s take on technology?

(f) What is a patient’s reaction to the conventional stethoscope?

(III) Find words from the passage which mean the opposite of the following:

(a)local (para 1)

(a) immovable (para 2)

Ans. (I) (a) (ii) rolled up sheets of paper

(b) (iii) medical examination rooms and toy shops

(d) (iv) the heartbeat and stores it in an app

(II) (a) Suman Mulumudi is a 15-year-old boy from Seattle who has invented the Steth 10, an alternative to the regular stethoscope.

(b) Mulumudi’s invention records heart and lung sounds and converts them into a spectrogram to be annotated in an iPhone case that amplifies and stores it for future reference.

(c) The FDI stethoscope that records the sounds of a patient’s heart and transmits it into an app. The clip stored in the cloud can be transferred for a second opinion.

(d) In India, the digital stethoscope might prove a hurdle because 80% of patients reside in villages where steady electricity is a luxury.

(e) According to Dr Vinita Arora, technology makes what you tell technology and good history taking can have no substitute.

(f) A patient, on seeing a conventional stethoscope in a doctor’s hands, feels reassured.

(III) (a) universal

(b)portable

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