The following is an Ignite talk on the future of the physician delivered at Tim O'Reilly's 2012 Health Foo - Microsoft Research Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts. As I see technology advancing around me, I think about the future of the physician. Where are we going to fit in? Will we become obsolete? Are we headed for a medical singularity? The good news for ... Continue Reading about Will the Future Need Doctors?
Rejuvenile Physicians
A couple of years back I read an interesting book called Rejuvenile. It concerns the emerging culture of adults who like to do kid things - Lego's, paintball, etc. After reading The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices this summer I learned that the MIT Media Lab has a group, Lifelong Kindergarten, that tries to recreate the thinking and curiosity of kindergarten-aged ... Continue Reading about Rejuvenile Physicians
What Would Osler Think?
Medicine is changing quickly. In the context of these changes I hear this question occasionally: ‘What would Osler think?’ What would he think of imaging before examination? How would he feel about medical residents rounding with one eye on the EHR? It’s an interesting question and one that highlights the fact that we’re a profession preoccupied with our past. We ... Continue Reading about What Would Osler Think?
Book Notes: The Creative Destruction of Medicine
It's arrived: The Creative Destruction of Medicine – How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care, Eric Topol’s prescient view of the near future of medicine. This book details how four areas of digital medicine – wireless sensors, genomics, imaging and health information – are about to undergo a super-convergence marking perhaps the most disruptive ... Continue Reading about Book Notes: The Creative Destruction of Medicine
Internet Cafe – Is It the End of an Era for Medical Meetings?
Is it the end of the internet cafe at medical meetings? Has the sponsored kiosk with 'free access to the world wide web' run its course? I remember the day when there were lines at machines like this. We clamored to pick up our email. Now email and other inputs reach some 80% of doctors through their smartphones. The sponsored cafe will soon be a relic of our past. ... Continue Reading about Internet Cafe – Is It the End of an Era for Medical Meetings?
Prometheus Labs and Precision Medicine
If you want a glimpse at a company putting precision medicine into practice look no further than Prometheus Labs. They make diagnostic products for personalized care in digestive disease and oncology. I use their products to diagnose and target therapy in children with inflammatory bowel diseases (crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). IBD offers a nice place ... Continue Reading about Prometheus Labs and Precision Medicine