This is an opinion piece that examines the dichotomy of "fast medicine" (which involves high medical use and spending) and what I refer to as "slow medicine". It discusses ethical questions around which of these two frameworks really confers better "health" to patients - using examples from a real patient scenario of mine who was considering undergoing a relatively high-risk carotid endarterectomy. It then re-affirms the importance of primary care to conferring health and the ultimate value of primary care, or "slow medicine". I believe it is a timely discussion as we continue to advocate for more primary care resources in our health care system.
