Confronting Technological Elitism in Healthcare
STEM’s dominance in healthcare has become an untouchable doctrine. For decades, we’ve operated under the assumption that more advanced technology equals better care. But this logic is flawed—and dangerously so.
While technological innovations like AI, robotics, and personalized medicine have undeniably revolutionized certain aspects of healthcare, this tech-centric model has systematically overlooked the most crucial element: people. Inherent Care Theory (ICT) challenges this very premise, arguing that healthcare is fundamentally about human relationships, not just about how sophisticated our tools are.
The Harmful Focus on STEM Over People
The obsession with STEM-driven solutions hasn’t just skewed priorities—it’s caused real harm. Take a look at the global healthcare landscape: despite our cutting-edge technology, healthcare disparities are growing. Expensive machines and state-of-the-art therapies exist only for those who can afford them. Meanwhile, underfunded public health systems and preventive care—the very systems that could eliminate these disparities—are left in the dust.
Ruling classes cling to STEM supremacy because it maintains their stranglehold on power. They push the idea that technological innovation will solve all problems, obscuring the reality that it often exacerbates inequality. This rhetoric shifts blame away from systemic flaws and redirects it toward individuals, implying that better health is simply a matter of accessing the latest devices or treatments.
But the data is clear: no amount of technology can fix the systemic injustices embedded within our healthcare systems. ICT exposes this truth and asks us to reconsider what progress in healthcare really means.
STEM’s Built-in Gatekeeping: Who Benefits?
STEM’s focus has created a system where access to healthcare is prohibitively expensive and increasingly detached from everyday needs. High-margin treatments and breakthrough devices are lauded, but they cater to a small, wealthy elite. The vast majority of the population, especially marginalized groups, is left out, unable to afford even basic care, let alone cutting-edge treatments.
STEM’s dominance reinforces this by promoting the idea that technological complexity is inherently valuable. Ruling classes argue that sophisticated solutions are necessary for quality care, creating a system where only the rich can participate meaningfully. This narrative marginalizes low-cost, community-based approaches—methods that often deliver superior health outcomes on a broader scale—because they don’t fit the profit-driven model.
The myth of technological complexity also reinforces the exclusion of marginalized communities from decision-making. They’re left as passive recipients, when in reality, communities themselves are often best equipped to address their own health needs.
Misleading Narratives: The Market Efficiency Myth
Another central lie of STEM primacy is the idea that market efficiency drives healthcare innovation and lowers costs. The reality is quite the opposite: profit motives distort healthcare priorities, leading to high-tech solutions that are far more profitable but much less impactful at the population level.
STEM’s high-profit focus results in over-treatment of illnesses and an underinvestment in public health, social determinants of health, and preventative care. Instead of addressing the root causes of illness, like poverty and access to clean water, we’re left with a system that capitalizes on disease and chronic conditions.
ICT as a Framework for Radical Change
Inherent Care Theory turns the STEM primacy narrative on its head by centering equitable care, human dignity, and community-driven solutions. ICT insists that relational care—building trust between healthcare providers and patients, centering empathy, and engaging communities—is just as important as technological breakthroughs.
It’s not about rejecting technology, but about reorienting its application. ICT pushes for democratizing access to healthcare innovations by embedding them into a framework of equity, ensuring technology serves all people—not just the wealthy.
The focus should shift to preventive care and social justice—both of which are marginalized under the current STEM-driven model. ICT advocates for policies that prioritize these areas and calls for restructuring medical education to emphasize relational skills alongside technical knowledge.
Moving Beyond STEM Primacy: The Way Forward
The healthcare system of the future must be driven by people, not profit. While technology will continue to play a role, we must ensure it’s integrated within a broader, human-centered approach. ICT offers a framework for this shift—one that values community, focuses on holistic well-being, and fights for equitable healthcare access.
Healthcare isn’t a market—it's a fundamental human right. To truly reform our healthcare systems, we need to adopt a model that values empathy and social determinants as much as, if not more than, technical innovation. By grounding STEM in the principles of ICT, we can begin to dismantle the inequalities that STEM primacy perpetuates and build a system that truly serves everyone.