Why Do Doctors Overtreat? For Many, It's What They're Trained To Do

Medical education is built on the assumption that the more procedures or treatments doctors see and do, the more competent they'll be when they're independent. It can feel tempting to do more rather than less.

But excessive medical tests and treatments can have financial and personal costs. They contribute to this country's rising health care spending and subject patients to anxiety and the risks of extraneous procedures. A group of medical educators thinks this epidemic of overtreatment, as they call it, starts with the habits that doctors develop during training — habits they're hoping to break with new approaches to medical education.

The full NPR article can be read at this link.