Thank you for your question.
When we're talking about the physical exam, it still remains the basis of our training, I would say almost certainly. Of course our curricula do keep up with the times.
The curriculum at McGill, for example, has recently changed. The new curriculum does include ultrasound, which was not even included in my curriculum. There has been a lot of talk that these technological advances will replace instruments like the stethoscope, and we'll be more reliant on ultrasound.
I think training will always continue to have the basis of the physical exam, and we'll always learn to use the traditional ways, but we need to keep up with the times, for sure.
I think what we could do better is to promote campaigns such as Choosing Wisely Canada, which is a program that aims to reduce physicians' prescribing or requesting unnecessary tests. It saves money by reducing these tests. It also leads to better outcomes for patients if we don't have incidental findings that we need to investigate if there was no indication to do such a test.
By promoting these initiatives, we'll continue to focus on the important basics of the physical exam and the history taking, which has been and I think will remain the focus of our training.