This points to a wider misconception that the public has. Computer engineers learn how to build computer systems, they don't learn how to use computer systems. Automotive engineers are not necessarily good drivers either, and an architect can get lost in your building just as well as anyone.
Sure you get a lot of it through osmosis by spending a lot of time at the computer, but computer science professors struggle with projecting slides from the in-class computer just as much as high-school teachers.
My point is that, sure, it's reasonable to expect a doctor to know absolutely nothing about programming. But if using computers is such a central aspect to their job, it's not unreasonable to expect that they will be proficient in operating medical computer systems, probably better than computer engineers.
I'm not talking about programming. I'm talking about basic use of a keyboard and mouse. You just expected other people will know how, yet have no basic knowledge of other professions, even those that are arguably more important.
Do you have basic knowledge of your own body? Anatomy, for instance? I recently tore a rotator cuff, none of the four muscles mentioned I had ever heard of in my life. It would have helped me immensely had I not had to spend an evening googling what are actually basic medical facts.
Or how many people who drive know what a catalytic converter is, or what symptoms are typical of it failing? Or even what to do when certain idiot lights light up on their dashboard? The check engine light comes on, do you stop on the side of the road or can you continue to your destination? Or can you continue, but just to a garage? Do you have to do so at reduced speed? How about if the oil light comes on? How about if the low tire pressure light comes on? How about if the airbag light comes on? How about if the battery light comes on? How about if the light with an exclamation mark inside a triangle comes on? How about the light that looks like a profile of the car with skid marks under it? How about the light with the cryptic three letters ABS?
> I'm talking about basic use of a keyboard and mouse. You just expected other people will know how, yet have no basic knowledge of other professions
That was their point: keyboard, mouse, and basic computer interaction is general knowledge that anyone in modern life should have, like first aid or what traffic signals mean (for both vehicles and pedestrians).
Yes, and the doctor in question is skilled enough to use them. He uses them via hunt and peck, not touch typing, but that's good enough for his purpose.
> I'm talking about basic use of a keyboard and mouse. You just expected other people will know how, yet have no basic knowledge of other professions, even those that are arguably more important.
I'm a bit confused about what you are saying. Basic use of a keyboard and mouse is not exclusively part of the software engineering or IT profession. It is in fact part of every job where as part of your job you use a computer. Which is almost every job nowadays.
Same as writers are not the only people who are taught how to write, and accountants are not the only people who are taught arithmetics.
> I recently tore a rotator cuff, none of the four muscles mentioned I had ever heard of in my life. It would have helped me immensely had I not had to spend an evening googling what are actually basic medical facts.
Sorry to hear that, and I hope you are feeling better. Not really sure though what is your point. Are you saying doctors should not know about basic use of a keyboard and mouse because you haven't heard of the rotator cuff? Or are you saying that people should be also taught about the rotator cuff who are not doctors? I just don't really understand your point.
> Or how many people who drive know what a catalytic converter is, [...] How about the light with the cryptic three letters ABS?
I'm really not sure what your point is.
I'm saying that we should not expect people to use computers efficiently, rather we should expect people to use computers in a "good enough" fashion.
I think that more cross-discipline experience would benefit everybody.