Mayo Healthcare and Social Media Summit: Interview with Colleen Young, Community Director for Mayo Clinic Connect’s Online Patient Community

First published November 10, 2016

Colleen Young (@colleen_young on Twitter) is the Community Director of Mayo Clinic Connect, an online community for patients and their loved ones to connect with others experiencing illness. Mayo Clinic Connect is  a unique platform that also educates users about their conditions, and has regular input fromMayo Clinic doctors and other healthcare professionals.

Colleen is also the founder of Health Care Social Media Canada (@hcsma or #hcsma on Twitter). She has conducted extensive academic research into the potential of social media to help along a patient’s journey through illness. She kindly took time to answer questions about her experiences in the lead-up to the Mayo Healthcare and Social Media Summit in Melbourne, where she’ll be speaking next week.

Colleen Young, Community Director of Mayo Clinic Connect. Pic courtesy of Colleen Young.

How has social media transformed healthcare? 

The connectivity that the social web has afforded people is the single biggest innovation in healthcare.

It’s taken away the terminal illness of isolation, brought people together so they can learn, recognise their knowledge and share with others. This is true for providers, policy makers, researchers, educators as well as patients and family caregivers.

What’s the biggest advice you would give healthcare startup founders or clinicians who want to build a community for their patients or users?

Technology alone does not create community. To effectively connect people, foster discussions that build relationships and create circles of trust requires a human commitment. Many recognise the potential of online communities to affect change, such as provide support and reduce isolation, improve health, change a health behaviour or to even drive research or change policies. But behind every successful community is a leader or team of people that helps nurture the community and to constantly calibrate the fine balance between growth, activity and sense of community.

Mayo Clinic Connect. Pic courtesy of Mayo Clinic and Colleen Young

How can the risk of misinformation amongst patient communities be reduced? What are your thoughts on the best ways to moderate patient communities within hospitals, clinics, private Facebook groups or healthtech apps? 

Many health organisations are concerned about disclosure of personal health or other sensitive information and the proliferation of misinformation. However, if your community has clear policies, proactive community management, as well as active moderation and community participation, these concerns are largely unfounded for online communities. Clearly stated policies make it easy for moderators to modify—and in some cases remove—posts that contravene terms of use, such as commercial postings, advertisements, or impersonations; posts that relate to illegal activity; those that contain disrespectful language, and so on.

Community managers, moderators, and core members model behaviour and can guide members who may have unwittingly shared sensitive information or misinformation. Such modelling establishes and maintains the desired tone of a community. Communities with a secure sense of community can rely on responsive self-policing to correct misguided behaviour and misinformation. In fact, rather than removing misguided information, allowing and enabling community members to correct misconceptions and provide balanced debate can be a very productive bonding opportunity that deepens the sense of community and establishes the value of collective knowledge. Undesirable behaviour does happen in online communities, but responsive community management can maintain the integrity, reliability, and value of the collective community knowledge. (Colleen has written more about this at her website.)

How comfortable were your clinical colleagues initially when Connect launched, and what helped to make them feel more at ease with patient Connect communities if there was unease?

Mayo Clinic has long been a leader in the use of social media. Connect was an extension of our social media presence. Clinicians and staff have readily embraced the patient-to-patient exchanges and strength of the community on Connect which underlines a core value at Mayo Clinic – patients are knowledgeable and participatory members of their health care and well being.

Connect presents a unique opportunity for clinicians to be invited into the patient conversations. All provider participation whether it be in the group discussions, webinars or blog pages, is done in concert with the patients.

Hear Colleen speak at the Mayo Healthcare and Social Media Summit in Melbourne, Australia next week. Tickets are available here. 

We also interviewed Simon Pase, Video Producer at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, who will also speak at the Summit.

We’re grateful to have been granted media access to the Summit.  

Mayo Healthcare & Social Media Summit: Interview with Simon Pase, Video Producer at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne

First published November 9, 2016

We’re pleased to introduce Simon Pase, Video Producer at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Creative Studio.

The Royal Children’s Hospital Creative Studio. Pic: courtesy of Alvin Aquino

Simon and his team in Melbourne create educational videos, photography and other media for staff, patients and families at the RCH. Their work helps thousands of children and their families each year adjust to illness and the hospital experience. Their team have also produced educational content in healthcare systems outside of the RCH, and for events such as the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal. Producing high-quality videos for varied audiences in the medical system takes a variety of skills from media, journalism, education, and storytelling, with a large dose of compassion throughout.

Anyone with an idea for a healthcare startup or social impact project can benefit from storytelling skills, and Simon’s passion for his work shines through in his interview with us. You can also catch him speaking at the Mayo Healthcare and Social Media Summit in Melbourne, Australia in November.

Can you tell us about your career journey?

I graduated from Film and TV production in 1996 and initially worked in production, and then for a couple of years in the UK. 

When I moved back to Melbourne, there were very few television jobs. So I used my skills as a copywriter in advertising. Years later, when I decided to do further study, I toyed with the idea of teaching. Many friends said “You’d be a great teacher.” But my sister had worked in teaching and didn’t think I’d enjoy it. It made me question, what would I want to do? That led to my Masters in Film and Television at RMIT. 

My partner was very supportive and worked full-time while I did my Masters and worked in Marketing part-time. At the same time, the RCH job came up. I had no idea it existed. 

I was working alongside photographers at Monash University who did know about this department at the RCH, and encouraged me to apply. It was run by Gigi Williams and they told me I had to do it, it would suit me. My sister had also worked at the RCH as an educational play therapist.

During my Masters’ Major project, I had the best combination of support from university and tools from the RCH. My scholarly interest during my Masters was Sports Documentaries, telling stories of the underdog, their depiction and the intersection of the struggle with sports and life. There are similarities with the RCH stories in this space.

I learnt very quickly, how do people want to be portrayed? Especially children and families.

Research into producing Sports Documentaries was a very similar parallel. 

Once you start here, it’s very addictive.

When I came, I had a very great mentor in Film and TV who took me on an immediate orientation to the hospital environment. His name is Rob Grant, who’s spent 26 years at the RCH. He’s very quick to introduce you to people, their departments, what they do, and how the hospital functions. People are very generous with their time here and are very open. There’s a lot of trust. 

(People at the RCH) feel comfortable including us in their work. 

I learnt how to demonstrate a procedure, and how to tell a person’s story. 

We also work with other hospitals, which is a privilege- we learn how to win the trust of other people, and are always conscious of the privilege of working with others to promote their hospitals. 

When I came to the RCH, I found it’s a place of incredible optimism.

You film kids having open heart surgery for congenital heart disease, and it’s so profound to watch. 

Filming a surgical procedure at the RCH. Pic courtesy of Simon Pase/RCH Creative Studio

I thought, this hospital can do so much. The optimism, the people committed to research. 

Also, you get to observe specialties that normally don’t get as much heroic publicity, such as mental health, yet their work is just as valuable. 

How do you approach a story on a less-publicised or under-acknowledged medical issue?

As an example, here’s a project we did for the Festival of Healthy Living, an Arts Program for communities that have experienced hardship such as bushfires. These communities tend to have a higher incidence of mental health issues and even youth suicide. The program tries to build a lot of structure for community and skills. We were asked to do a film about it. 

At first, there was a very strong reluctance to show these people. We were concerned about exploitation, and it took awhile to figure out how to portray people who may have gone through a significant ordeal. 

Eventually, we realised – humans are very resilient, and kids mean more to us than anything. If that’s the story we can tell, that parents will want to make a better community for kids, that’s a positive story. We interviewed three fantastic sets of parents, and told stories about anxiety and being accepted. And it was tremendous, telling it this way from people who’d gone through it and benefited from it, it had a really positive outcome. 

“Show, don’t tell” is a rule we try to stick to.

Video is an emotive medium, it’s from the entertainment world which is emotive. Video tries to inspire people to do something, to have the confidence to come into hospital (such as through our “Be Positive” video series teaching children about hospital), and undergo treatment, (and then continue that treatment at home).

It’s fantastic that people are conscious now about storytelling. 

When we tell stories, we make sure we are doing the right thing by our subjects. It’s a huge responsibility. 

My favourite project- there are many- but the first time I felt satisfied about my job here, was after doing a video on how to change a tube on a liver transplant recipient, for children going home after a transplant.

It was an easier video to make, but the feedback from the liver transplant nurse two months later was amazing. She said that parents are not scared to try it at home anymore, they feel confident about managing this. 

It’s really positive. It doesn’t take a lot of skill to make sometimes, but they can be the most impactful videos to make because you know the audience will use its lessons in some way. 

The other one was about the triggers of anxiety in children and how the RCH manages it. We have special programs funded through the Good Friday Appeal.The Head of Educational Play Therapy spoke at an event for the Appeal and we created the “Mastery of Fear” video to show the impact of fundraising. When I came up with the idea, it was like an idea you have in your mind that you can’t explain to everybody, but you just do it. And it worked. 

Learn more from Simon Pase and other international speakers at the Mayo Healthcare and Social Media Summit in Melbourne, November 2016. Tickets are available for their Summit, Residency and Film Festivalhere. Follow on social media via #MayoinOz. and on Twitter @MayoClinicSMN.

 A selection of the Royal Children’s Hospital Video work can be found here. We’re grateful to the Mayo team for granting us media access to the Summit. 

We wrote about two Australian healthcare startups using social media in interesting ways- revisit our article at this link. 

Edit 10 Nov ’16: We incorrectly stated that Simon studied his Masters at Monash; it was actually at RMIT. 

How Can We Be Leaders Through Healthcare Technology? Day 3 of HiNZ and the New Zealand Nursing Informatics Conference

First published November 7, 2016

This week, we’ve been inspired by the many speakers who have made career leaps: from clinician  to academic; from clinician to ICT (Information and Communications Technology) specialist; and even from accountancy to the public service in healthcare. Here are some of their insights from Day 3 of HiNZ, and the concurrent New Zealand Nursing Informatics Conference:

1) Videos of nature scenes played via app, with or without music, can help reduce pain perception and level of anxiety in the perioperative period. Professor of Nursing, Margaret Hansen of the University of San Francisco,  was inspired to investigate the power of visualisation in dealing with pain, after experiencing a severe illness herself. Her feasibility study, performed as a randomised controlled trial, has shown these promising effects, and will lead to further study- perhaps even in Virtual Reality!

Prof Margaret Hansen of USF demonstrates one of the app’s Nature videos at the NZ Nursing Informatics Conference 2016. Pic: The Medical Startup

2) “We need to collaborate with our international colleagues,” said Lucy A. Westbrooke, who is the New Zealand ambassador for the International Medical Informatics Association – Nursing Informatics (IMIA – NI). From her diverse career in nursing, leading to executive and chairperson positions in New Zealand health informatics and telehealth, she described some of the various international meetings and opportunities helping to achieve this goal.

3) “You don’t design systems for the most technologically agile; it has to be for the users,” Dr Simon Kos, Chief Medical Officer of Microsoft advised. Having experienced healthcare both as a clinician and as a software engineer, Dr Kos gave insights into the future of medical education with virtual reality through Hololens. 

Dr Simon Kos, Chief Medical Officer of Microsoft at HiNZ 2016. Pic: The Medical Startup

4) Finally, NZ Ministry of Health Director General Chai Chuah posed the question: What kind of leader are you (in healthcare)? “Today’s global leaders understand and lead the art and science of disruptive change,” he said, acknowledging the combination of both art and science in medicine, technology and healthcare.

Leadership isn’t always about being the first to present an idea, or the first to use a new technology. Leadership can occur at an individual level. As an example, guiding a patient to a tech solution enabled by a District Health Board (DHB), such as A.Prof Robyn Whittaker has done with her project with Waitemata DHB. Her research findings from a messaging reminder service for behaviour change showed that patients benefited from this service. Or coordinating an entire Australian Territory’s telehealth services, as Michelle McGuirk does in the Northern Territory; or encouraging a patient to keep an app-based symptom journal.

A/Prof Robyn Whittaker, Medical Doctor and Digital Health lead at Waitemata DHB presents her Behaviour Change Messaging project findings. Pic: The Medical Startup

You can view sessions from 2016 and 2015 at HiNZ.org.nz with membership. Catch up on Day 1 and Day 2 highlights as well.

We thank HiNZ for providing media access to the conferences and opening our eyes up to these incredible experiences.  

The Virtual Ward Round Is Here: Highlights from Day 2 HiNZ, Successes and Failures in Telehealth, and the Global Telehealth conferences

First published November 2, 2016

We’ve been very inspired from the talks and positive atmosphere at HiNZ, SFT and the Global Telehealth conferences this week. New Zealand is a country that deserves a lot more credit for their innovation in medicine and global healthcare. Here are some of today’s highlights:

1) Virtual Ward Rounds and Consults help patients and clinicians alike feel supported and at ease with care. Dr Eddie Tan, nephrologist from Waikato Hospital, spoke about the “hub and spokes” model of care that Waikato Hospital and its satellite rural hospitals and clinics run. With hundreds of kilometres between sites, Dr Tan and his colleagues are on planes at least every fortnight for clinics that may last just a few hours before returning back to Waikato. This is problematic when rural patient emergencies develop; however, Telemedicine with videoconferencing to the satellite clinics has helped the Renal team conduct assessments, minus the hours and dollars spent on travel (and minus hours of patient/family stress). It has also prevented unnecessary hospital presentations, and brought critical patients to hospital sooner.

Dr Eddie Tan, kidney specialist at Waikato Hospital NZ discussing Telehealth in Renal failure. Pic: The Medical Startup

Dr Tan’s colleague, Waikato District Health Board (DHB) renal nurse Jenny presented her research paper on how palliative care decisions were made easier with telehealth’s videoconferencing capabilities. This meant that difficult and time-critical family and patient conversations could be had in the comfort of the patient’s home, without wasting precious time in the potential final days of life arranging hours or even days of transport for the same consultation.

Dialysis ward rounds also help Dr Tan assess end-stage renal patients who may deteriorate very rapidly and become fluid overloaded.

Similarly, Rehabilitation ward rounds by telemedicine has helped patients in a rehabilitation ward feel happy and secure with their care. Registered Nurse and PhD candidate Sophie Gerrits’ research has so far found that rehab patients and staff at Thames Hospital, Waikato DHB New Zealand, are happy with the consults, and the elderly patients have adapted well to the new technology. The Ward Registrar goes from bed to bed with a telecart, and the Rehabilitation Physician or Geriatrician video-calls weekly in from the tertiary hospital, in addition to their usual weekly face-to-face visit.

Staff appreciated having a second chance during the week to ask questions and raise issues that had arisen in the days since the last visit. The main issue to overcome was “patient jitters” at not knowing what to expect from a video consult and what was expected of them. This reinforces the need to counsel patients prior to a consult; that they can speak, behave and ask questions just as they would if the clinician was in the room with them.

2) Telestroke Improves Door-to-Needle Time in New Zealand

Yesterday, Dr Chris Bladin of the Victorian Telestroke Program discussed the very promising findings from the Victorian Telestroke Program research in rural hospitals, with hopes to expand to other Australian hospitals. Today, New Zealand Neurologist Dr Anna Ranta showed that since Telestroke has piloted from 3rd June in the Capital and Coast DHB, door-to-needle median time has reduced from 80 minutes down to 54. With cerebral ischaemia being a critical matter of seconds, this is a significant early finding, and along with other positive outcomes, will hopefully help push for a Telestroke rollout in other DHBs.

1,100 delegates attending HiNZ this week. HiNZ Awards Dinner at Shed10, Auckland, sponsored by Microsoft. Pic: The Medical Startup

3) The finalists for the Sysmex Award for Health Informatics at the University of Auckland have promising ideas for mobile health applications. The winner, Daniel Surkalim, was announced tonight at the HiNZ Awards dinner. By creating visually appealing, simplistic views of patient data, his project, GRID(Graphical Relational Integrated Database) will help solve the clinician bugbear of “too much data, not enough sense” that occurs in many existing EMRs (electronic medical records). The other finalists deserve commendation for their work; Frances Toohey with Dr.Doctor for clinicians and patients to track eReferrals, and Kyle Frank’s MedScript to facilitate e-prescribing solutions for patients and doctors.

4) Tele-ophthalmology in India aims to cut waiting lists for a population short of ophthalmologists. Dr Sheila John of Chennai, India has done extensive work with diabetic retinopathy and machine learning, and inspired us with her dream to help rural villages be screened for diabetic retinopathy accurately and safely without a long waiting period for an eye specialist. Dr John quotes 60 million people in India as suffering from diabetes, with nearly 20% experiencing diabetic retinopathy, a cause of blindness if left untreated.

Speakers from four different nations closing the Global Telehealth conference today; L-R: Global Telehealth co-chair Dr Kendall Ho of Canada; Dr Karen Day of NZ; Dr Laticha Walters, South Africa; and Dr Sheila John, India. Pic: The Medical Startup

With four events running this week, it’s impossible to catch all sessions at once. Watch the conference on demand, even after this week, with a Virtual Ticket, including one year’s worth of membership with HiNZand HIMSS Asia-Pacific, among other benefits. We thank HiNZ for providing media access to the conferences and truly enjoyed the experience.  

Highlights from HiNZ, Successes and Failures in Telehealth, and the Global Telehealth Conference Day 1

First published November 1, 2016

We’re Tweeting live from #HiNZ2016 in Auckland this week. Follow us on Twitter @themedstartup and @journalmtm, the Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine. We’re also on Instagram @themedicalstartup.
Virtual tickets with HiNZ membership are still available at hinz.org.nz. 

What were some of today’s highlights?

1.Experiencing the Maori welcome ceremony. It was incredible seeing the haka and other traditional ceremonies performed to commence the event. Kia Ora!

Pic: The Medical Startup

2.Learning about New Zealand’s healthcare system. New Zealand’s DHBs (District Health Boards) manage the various hospital regions in the country of two islands, supported by the national Ministry of Health (MoH). With a large rural and regional population, their DHBs have managed to put together various digital health solutions to overcome the geographical, cultural and at times, linguistic barriers that occur. (We’ve written about what Australians are doing with telehealth here, and Dr Gregory Sam’s telepsychiatry service here.)

3. Discovering what sensor wearables can do for the elderly.
Professor Marjorie Skubic of the University of Missouri’s Computer and Electrical Engineering Department, has carried out extensive research into sensor wearables, inspired by her own journey to help her parents feel safe yet independent while living a considerable distance away from her. Gait analysis using Microsoft Kinect depth cameras; sensor mats in beds that measure respiration and heart rate; and other sensors embedded in the home environment are all part of her research, giving hope for the elderly to feel supported and independent while their children can continue work.

Prof Marjorie Skubic discusses Eldertech at HiNZ2016. Pic: The Medical Startup

4. Experts acknowledging that technology is a means to a human-centred solution for healthcare. As Lord Nigel Crisp of the United Kingdom said below during his address:

The Medical Startup@themedstartup

"Healthcare is a human contact sport" - Lord Nigel Crisp quotes his friend at @HINZ_NZ #hinz2016 @nhsdigital

8:12 AM - Nov 1, 2016

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Additionally, Homecare Medical, who won the tender for New Zealand’s National Telehealth Service, understand that citizens don’t expect healthcare to be limited by geographical boundary anymore.

The Medical Startup@themedstartup

"The Virtual world doesn't respect the boundaries of District Health Boards (&other local health systems)" Andrew Slater, Homecare Medical

9:27 AM - Nov 1, 2016

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This leads into the topic of Precision Medicine & Personalised Medicine. As technology evolves, patients will feel more empowered to take control of their healthcare (as they already do by Googling symptoms and performing other forms of accessible research), and clinicians will have to evolve to understand their patients’ perspectives better. Patients will expect medicine doses and timing to be tailored; their leaflets or apps about their conditions will  be personalised; and more forms of personalisation to enable better living.

5. Learning what Clinicians think of Big Data. Big data is important, but what good is it if it’s of no use to you in future? With big data comes big responsibility, and collecting unnecessary data wastes valuable time and resources.

jMTM@journalmtm

"I thought Technology would be v important with all this,but it's actually Change ie.human behaviour-"Prof Chris Bladin @TheFlorey #Hinz2016

8:46 AM - Nov 1, 2016

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– above quote from Prof Chris Bladin when presenting his journey as a neurologist with the Victorian Telestroke program, which has successfully treated rural and remote patients throughout the state. They’re now looking to expand to other States.

The Medical Startup@themedstartup

"Elective #surgery is a great target for #bigdata but you need #goodquality data"Dr Mark Fletcher #anaesthetics #registrar#hinz2016 #ehealth

11:11 AM - Nov 1, 2016

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6. Watching the Finalists of the Clinicians’ Challenge, supported by New Zealand’s Ministry of Health. It strikes a chord with us that a national government supports and empowers their clinical staff as innovators, being the ones at the coalface of medicine. Finalists include an Anaesthetic Fellow; a Pharmacist undertaking doctoral studies; a Public Health doctor; and a Junior Doctor working in Dunedin. Stay tuned for further details, as well as updates on last year’s Ophthalmology and Surgical winners.

For more information on HiNZ, visit hinz.org.nz.

Global Digital Health Event Next Week: HiNZ, Auckland

First published October 27, 2016

We’re looking forward to attending not just one, but FOUR Digital Health conferences in Auckland next week.

Hosted by HiNZ, the Health Informatics Society of New Zealand, their annual event this year combines 4 streams into 1, held over four days plus workshops:

• HiNZ conference

• Global Telehealth Conference (GT)

• New Zealand Nursing Informatics Conference (NZNIC)

• Successes and Failures in Telehealth (SFT).

Even if you can’t make it, a Virtual Ticket is available so you can replay presentations and  view the session slides at home. The Virtual Ticket also includes a one-year membership to HiNZ, New Zealand’s digital health organisation with links to HIMSS Asia Pacific and many other benefits.

We’re looking forward to learning more about the New Zealand healthcare system and its digital environment. Speakers are also hailing from places as diverse as Iran, Germany, the Victoria TeleStroke system in Australia, the Royal Children’s Hospital, King’s College London, IBM’s United States branches, South Africa, Mackay in rural Queensland, and of course health services throughout New Zealand’s districts. Learning from these doctors, nurses, administrators, and others involved in Digital Health helps inspire collaboration for better patient care, as well as future career paths.

Health Informatics is the combination of healthcare, tech and business into one discipline. Organisations like HiNZ, HISA in Australia and HIMSS across the world help unite these sectors and facilitate better decision-making and education about digital health, data safety and consulting platforms including Telehealth.

Follow updates from the conferences on social platforms or post your updates via #HiNZ2016. We’ll be updating from both The Medical Startup’s platforms on Facebook,  Twitter and Instagram, as well as the Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine’sTwitter.

You can view the Program and register for sessions here and at hinz.org.nz.

Meet Google Impact Challenge Winner Dr William Yan of “Vision At Home”

First published October 24, 2016

Update 26 Oct ’16: William’s project has WON the Google Impact Challenge! Thank you to everyone who voted and showed your support for bringing eye testing to remote and mobility-challenged communities. Congratulations William and CERA! 

Dr William Yan and his team at the Centre for Eye Research Australia are finalists in this year’s Google Impact Challenge. Their project, Vision At Home, is an algorithm-based software that accurately tests visual acuity (eyesight) via webcam at home. Vision at Home helps rural, remote and mobility-impaired users access easy-to-use, high-quality testing through feature recognition, particularly in rural areas with little or no access to ophthalmologists. There is scope for Ishihara (colour blindness testing) and visual field testing to be added to this evidence-based software.

Will shared with us his journey from surgical residency to PhD candidate to Google award finalist.

Dr William Yan, Surgical resident and Ophthalmology PhD candidate. Pic courtesy of Will.

What was the inspiration for Vision At Home?

Vision At Home was inspired by the Australian health gap, and how technology has already changed our lives in so many ways. Less than 1% of eye specialists work in remote Australia, but almost all these areas have access to the internet. Time is not on our side to bring changes in infrastructure to remote Australia, given its size and vastness, so telemedicine is a shortcut and means of bridging the gap sooner.

What has been your pathway through medicine so far?

I’m a second year Surgical resident from Melbourne – I knew I wanted to do more after internship and be a bit creative. I’ve always had research supervisors who’ve inspired, challenged and supported me. This year, I spent six months overseas working on several projects together with my PhD. The background to this was always finding interesting topics to start and run short projects on throughout medical school.

To be honest, I haven’t always known I wanted to do ophthalmology but I have always had an interest in eyes. My vision was saved by ophthalmologists growing up but there were so many different specialties in medicine that I wanted to try for myself before deciding on a career. I spent time at the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne in my final year of medical school, which was a real highlight. I really enjoyed my experience and seeing the impact of the work. I’ve met a lot of really inspiring, humble clinicians and innovators in ophthalmology – it’s a culture I really like.

How has your research helped you and your team create a healthcare program with global impact?

Being enrolled as a postgraduate research student opens up a lot of doors and opportunities. For starters, it positions you to have close relationships with outstanding academics and leaders, and to be involved with creative discussions, ideas exchanges, and to learn about how the gears turn outside of clinical medicine. Additionally, you’re eligible for support from the University in the form of grants, workshops, exchanges and project seed funding.

How have your mentors and supervisors helped you along the way? 

Through hearing what people are working on at CERA,what they’ve achieved and some of the big questions being asked. It’s been a privilege working with Prof. Mingguang He from Melbourne University, and Prof. Robert Chang from Stanford as part of the Vision at Home team, who’ve become my mentors and role models.

How long has it taken from idea to now to form Vision At Home?

Vision at Home has taken nearly two years to translate. Right now we are on the cusp of delivering it to Australian communities as a tool to improve access and establish a national vision screening program/platform. In 3 years, with Google’s support we will reach 100,000 people through Australian homes, clinics, hospitals and schools and over 500,000 people in developing countries where 90% of the world’s vision impaired reside. To get this project into the hands of everyone who needs it, we need support and votes! We’re giving people a tool to save sight, and empowering them to see tomorrow.

To vote for Will and CERA’s project, visit Australia’s Google Impact Challenge website by clicking the banner below.  

Creative Spotlight: Dr Vyom Sharma, General Practitioner and Magician

Dr Vyom Sharma is an Australian GP (Family Medicine/Primary Care Physician) and professional magician. He and his friends Luke Hocking and Alex de la Rambelje perform internationally as The Gentlemen of Deceit. From playing phone tricks on Kelly Osbourne on Australia’s Got Talent, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival to events in Taiwan, Vyom juggles his magic work with his passion for General Practice. A graduate of Monash University, Vyom also speaks at events, including previous Australian Medical Association student conventions.

We sat down with Vyom prior to his recent Melbourne and current Sydney shows with The Gentlemen of Deceit, to learn about his journey. Tickets for the Sydney Opera House shows are still available here.

“I started in my first year of medical school. A fellow med student, Rob, was good at sleight of hand, so I started learning from him. The first three years were a period of intense learning, and doing 5-10 minute spots on stage.

The Gentlemen of Deceit performing one of their tricks. L-R: Alex de la Rambelje, Vyom Sharma, Luke Hocking. Pic courtesy of Dr Vyom Sharma

The hardest thing was doing it by myself. Medicine is difficult, but others are there too, and generate camaraderie during the course.

Whereas with Creative pursuits, your own path is incredibly unique. However, Melbourne has a very tight-knit Magic community. 

I started working as a magician in restaurants. It was a good example of being thrown in the deep end! Years of rehearsal couldn’t have given me that experience. Then I got accepted into the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

You need the experience before doing the work.

We walked in as boys, and out as men. Then that led to my biggest challenge: producing my own standalone show, Seven Stories. I didn’t have a lot of time, so I took some bold, unconventional steps to get it ready.

Coming to magic late, you find you’re more willing to take risks, and I’m up for more challenges as a result.

There’s a solid chance of failure, but what matters is to fight your ego, and realise how badly you don’t want to fail.

Medicine is a very risk-averse profession. You’re looking at longterm goals while working your day-to-day. With Magic, there’s a very fine line between success and failure. There’s the risk of incredibly public humiliation in an instant.

Performing on stage helps you realise the disparity between how you view failure and what it actually feels like.

It’s very interesting to switch between one perspective of failure in Medicine and another in Performance. I think Medicine should teach that your decisions are only as good as the information you have available at the time. A lot of people in Medicine look back and regret. But we are far more in control (of our decisions and pathways) than we realise.

In Medicine, people tend to praise the success, not the attempt. 

It’s like success is an algorithm, not about putting yourself out there (and giving it a go). This is the benefit of having an outside pursuit. 

The Gentlemen of Deceit on Australia’s Got Talent. Pic courtesy of Dr Sharma

Being a magician has helped me be a better doctor. It helps with building rapport. And it’s hard to feel sorry for yourself at a show when you’re looking after someone in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) the next day.

I really enjoy listening to people.

And I enjoy being a GP. It’s a specialty which encompasses a bit of everything.”

The Gentlemen of Deceit are playing at the Sydney Opera House tonight (October 16th). Tickets are still available here. 

Career Articles Need To Include Options For People in Training – Launching Our Jobs Board

First published October 14, 2016

Pleased to announce that we’re launching our Jobs & Opportunities Board.

Was just reading an article in a prominent Australian medical journal, featuring a young Australian medical specialist who’s completed her training. She is now a mum and somehow fits in time to paint, cook and travel as well as practice in her chosen specialty.

It is a very nice article, and we enjoyed reading about this woman. But we feel like there’s a gap in career articles about medical doctors (and other professionals) who are in the midst of training.

Life happens.

How can you make a difference in your life, now?

How can you do something meaningful with medicine while you’re still in training?

How do others fit it all in? 

Our interviews with psychiatrist Dr Gregory Sam, GP Dr Nelson Lau, and medical physician Dr Lloyd Nashhelp to shed light on how they did it. We will also be featuring professionals at various stages of their careers, and students who are not waiting till tomorrow to create impact in healthcare today.

We’ll feature people at a wide range of ages, life stages, and career accomplishments.

And we’ll share opportunities for you to make a difference even before you finish your exams and other assessments and get awarded your letters, which may be many years down the track.

So if you have a job, volunteer opportunity or other option that might interest a worldwide network of readers, visit our Jobs page and Contact Us.

How Two Australian Medical Startups Are Inspired By Social Media

First published October 6, 2016

The power of communication is something that fascinates The Medical Startup.

Perhaps it’s our experience from looking after stroke patients who’ve lost the ability to speak.

From meeting patients who speak English as a second, third, fourth or even fifth language, and being awed at their skill.

From speaking with non-medical professionals who are trying to break into healthcare and learn healthcare’s language, and vice-versa.

Or from recognising how difficult it must be when an Australian doctor moves to work in a US hospital, and gets stumped by differences in common hospital terminology (read: ER versus ED; or in the UK, ICU vs ITU; or even paracetamol versus acetaminophen, which I encountered on a flight one day. Add in the accent difference, and you’ll see what we mean!).

This fascination with communication in medicine was what inspired us to connect with the Mayo Social Media Summit, which will be in Melbourne next month. Below are two Australian medtech startups founded by medical doctors, and how they’ve used social media with their apps.*

One through instant messaging, and one for the cancer journey. 

1. Bleep

Bleep‘s hashtag feature as inspired by social media. Free download on GooglePlay and the AppStore. Pic courtesy of MedSquared

Sydney-based medtech startup Bleep took a page from social media by cleverly including hashtags to group conversations within its clinician messaging system, and using the “@” system popular with Twitter and Instagram to directly contact particular team members looking after a patient.

Emergency Medicine doctor Joe Logan and co-founder Sarah Humphreys wanted to make messaging easier, secure and more efficient for healthcare workers within hospitals, residential care facilities and other clinical care centres. As Dr Logan explained, “At work, I receive texts, phone calls, emails and paper notes from members of the care team, making communication inefficient as it’s often between two parties rather than the multidisciplinary team.” Not to mention the confusion when a four-digit pager number is entered incorrectly and directed to the wrong person or team, wasting precious time in an emergency.

With Facebook and Twitter already on most peoples’ phones, this means Bleep takes a familiar practice from out-of-work communications to implement safer and better targeted messaging systems in clinical care.

2. CancerAid

CancerAid makes the cancer journey easier for patients, loved ones and healthcare professionals through several features including its Journal, Treatment diary, Opt-in Research, and Newsfeed. Pic courtesy of founder Dr Nik Pooviah

Another Australian startup, CancerAid, has successfully used storytelling and community-building to help humanise the earth-shattering cancer experience for would-be users of their app.

Founder and Radiation Oncology registrar Dr Nikhil Pooviah was struck with his CancerAid Awards inspiration one day as the app was preparing for its soft launch on the AppStore. (Stay tuned for Android news.) Celebrating the victories of cancer patients, oncology researchers, charity fundraisers, and others in the Oncology world, CancerAid’s growing reach speaks volumes about the power of sharing experiences to help deal with a tremendous burden of illness.

CancerAid‘s Symptoms Journal solves the memory recall problem encountered by patients and care providers in clinics worldwide, allowing better tracking of side-effects and other problems. Pic courtesy of CancerAid

Furthermore, CancerAid’s Awards and Championsconcept empowers users to treat the cancer journey not as a setback, but as a temporary hurdle, a race of sorts, with a Winning mindset from the start.

What strategies do you use involving social media with your healthcare solution? Leave a comment below or Contact Us if you want to share privately.

The Mayo Social Media Summit is for anyone interested in how social media can help solve problems in healthcare. They also run a course for medical professionals navigating social media. Tickets for the Summit in Melbourne are available here. 

*The startups listed are not affiliated with the Mayo Clinic. If you’re interested in learning more about either startup or enquiring about trialling either at your hospital/clinic/service, contact them at the links in this article. Both Bleep and CancerAid are currently available on the AppStore for free download.  Bleep is also on GooglePlay.