Tuesday, October 13, 2015
USC: virtual clinic, holograms are 'next frontier of digital health'MedCity News
USC: Virtual clinic, holograms are ‘next frontier of digital health’
Dr. Leslie Saxon
Five months ago, the last time we checked in with Dr. Leslie Saxon, executive director of the University of Southern California’s Center for Body Computing, she was testing the idea of “virtual doctors” with a digital clone of herself. That project, alone with one employing video holograms, is now ready for launch.
In a new interview, Saxon called virtual humans, virtual/augmented reality and artificial intelligence part of the “next frontier of digital health.” The USC cardiologist is showing off these technologies Friday in Los Angeles during the Center for Body Computing’s ninth annual conference.
The centerpiece is what Saxon has named the “virtual care clinic.” It’s like telemedicine, except patients can dial up not live humans who happen to be on call, but virtual representations of physicians, including their own doctors. “It could be someone you pick,” Saxon explained, or it could be an avatar. “That is part of the tool kit.”
The virtual doctors are backed by clinical decision support. Some may deride the loss of the human element of medicine, but as a recent Institute of Medicine report illustrated, error in diagnosis is rampant, and physicians inherently bring some bias to their decision-making. “If you’re talking to a surgeon,” Saxon said, “you may be more likely to be recommended for surgery.
Instead, the virtual docs are programmed to discuss the “mortality advantage” of various courses of action, as this video demonstrates. “You’ve upped everybody’s game,” Saxon said.
USC: virtual clinic, holograms are 'next frontier of digital health'MedCity News
Digital Literacy in the Medical Curriculum: Our Study Is Published! | ScienceRoll
Conclusions: A well-designed course, improved by constant evaluation-based feedback, can be suitable for preparing students for the massive use of the Internet, social media platforms, and digital technologies. New approaches must be applied in modern medical education in order to teach students new skills. Such curriculums that put emphasis on reaching students on the online channels they use in their studies and everyday lives introduce them to the world of empowered patients and prepare them to deal with the digital world.
Digital Literacy in the Medical Curriculum: Our Study Is Published! | ScienceRoll
Digital Literacy in the Medical Curriculum: Our Study Is Published! | ScienceRoll
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