This week: AMA Queensland's Junior Doctor Conference

Coming up this weekend is AMA Queensland’s annual Junior Doctor Conference.

There will be many sessions available to help boost your career and friendships in Medicine, whether you’re from Queensland or interstate; working as a doctor, or as a medical student.

I’m looking forward to Chairing the Tech in Medicine panel on Sunday; we’ve been busy preparing and rehearsing our questions and sessions, and I’m excited to see the other sessions, too!

(Image courtesy of AMA Queensland)

There is tons on Career Planning; variations on this year’s theme of Crossroads, including Alternate Career Paths in Medicine; how to land that College place of your dreams; Clinical Skills workshops; medicolegal issues; and other current topics that junior doctors face in Australia and around the world.

Tickets are still available; there’s also a Cocktail night on the Saturday night; and you’ll get to make new friends and enjoy Brisbane while at it! Previous conferences have been fantastic for building new skills and knowledge to set you up for the wards. #whattheydontteachyouinmedschool

For the full program and tickets, please visit AMA Queensland’s website.

Success At All Costs?

I touched on this briefly in my New Year’s post.

What saddened me when I dug deeper into medical startups in 2016 was that, quite often, success was seen as something to achieve at all costs, with no respect for customers, colleagues, or the wider community.

Even if a brand has a carefully constructed facade, it will all fall apart behind the scenes if you don’t genuinely care.

Coming from the similarly ruthless world of physician training, I found it very disappointing, especially when startups and the entrepreneurial world are trying to attract more clinicians.

Most clinicians are attracted to healthcare because of the caring aspect. They genuinely want to help make a great contribution to people’s lives, through direct patient-clinician contact.

That compassion and vulnerability can be misused by unscrupulous individuals and companies, and even with a strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, the WHY behind the company can be lost.

Is any industry safe from this?

No.

But it’s up to us, the individuals, to keep our values in mind, and live them.

For real.

Are you living your Mission Statement?

Best Reads This Week, September Edition

We’ve been quiet for awhile! Hello again :)

It’s great to be back!

We’ve got a lot happening at The Medical Startup- thankyou for bearing with our site facelift as it happens.

For now, entertain yourselves with a roundup of some great articles we’ve enjoyed from around the Web this week.

• Beth Comstock’s a CEO- and an introvert. Tips and strategies at Girlboss.com.

• Clinical trials are underway for novel early-stage cancer screening through a simple blood test. (The article’s from January but still relevant!)

• Our friends at Lysn have been listed as one of the top 5 Mental Health social enterprises in tech to watch, along with other inspiring startups. Check out the full list at Social Change Central.

What are some articles and resources you’ve enjoyed recently? Share your finds below!

World First: 3D-Printed Tibia Successfully Inserted Into Man’s Leg During Surgery

First published September 10, 2017

A team of Australian surgeons have successfully implanted a 3D-printed tibia into a 27-year-old man’s leg.

Photo courtesy of The Age.

The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, collaborated with the Queensland University of Technology with the design of the original polymer and “scaffold,” and with the printing technology in Singapore.*

The young father had suffered a life-threatening osteomyelitis, and faced above-knee amputation as the alternative.

It’s going to be fascinating following the journey of this man’s recovery, and hearing more and more stories of others successfully receiving 3D-printed bone and tissue. Both metropolitan and regional locations will soon be able to have these resources on hand (a 3D-printed tibia is pictured from Mackay Base Hospital’s 3D-printer here).

For more information, head to The Age and the ABC News.

*We’d love to credit the site in Singapore where the printing for this surgery took place!

Melbourne startup Nebula Health Raises $250,000 in Seed Funding For Best Perioperative Patient Care

First published June 6, 2017

What makes patients’ lives easier?

Having clear, up to date communication with their doctor and treating team.

The problem is, time pressures and administrative structures in most hospitals and clinics make this difficult both for patients and clinicians.

Australian surgeons Dr Paul Paddle and Dr Chandrashan Perera have created a solution for this. Nebula Health delivers smartphone reminders and advice via app directly from the surgeon to the patient, improving the quality of pre-operative care, post-op recovery and long-term health of their patients, in an easy-to-use and efficient manner.

Nebula Health’s new patient-focused app will help patients prepare for and recover well from surgery, with clear instructions tailored to each patient’s unique needs. Photo courtesy of Nebula Health.

As Chief Medical Officer Dr Paddle explains, “The concept for this app was borne out of my own experience and frustration. As a practicing ENT surgeon, I strive to check in on my patients at every step, before and after their surgery. However, in the time-pressured realities of medical practice today, it’s often not possible. With this app, my patients receive personalised directions every step of the way. In return, I receive real-time notifications of their compliance. As a result, my patients have more confidence in my abilities, are more satisfied and have better health outcomes.”

Frustration with the limits of current best patient care are what drive startups formed by doctors, nurses and other clinicians. Perioperative medicine is a standout opportunity for healthtech innovation, given the enormous breadth of surgical patients and cases, spanning from neonatal to paediatrics and adult surgery, and the non-surgical complications that can occur (such as cardiac events) amidst the high turnover of operative cases. A precision medicine solution like Nebula’s app could potentially also help those patients on waiting lists who are anxious about surgery or wanting advice in between appointments.

Melbourne Accelerator Launch Party 2016. Photo: The Medical Startup

Since completing their time with the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP), Nebula have visited Silicon Valley with the other MAP graduates and iterated the initial concept of their product into a helpful perioperative app. What was the journey like as a clinician and startup founder? “We tested thirty (surgical) patients using a prototype. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and it encouraged us to develop this concept into a market-ready product.” explains Dr Chandrashan Perera , Nebula’s CEO. “Patient testimonials from this trial turned six surgeons into early customers. From this traction, we were able to close our seed round. This funding will allow us to grow the team and scale our services to more patients.” Indeed, at least two more medical doctors have joined Nebula‘s team, and Nebula’s vision has impressed angel investors including Rod Lyle, a board member of ASX-listed medical technology company Pro Medicus.

It’s been exciting following Nebula Health’srapid journey from the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP).  Other medical successes include compatriots CNSDose, a pharmacogenetics company who are now part of the Texas Medical Center’s Innovation Accelerator, and other graduates of the MAP program.

Currently, Nebula Health are looking for more surgeons in hospitals and clinics who are interested in their software. For a demo or more information, please contact Li (at) nebulahealth.com.

Congratulations and best wishes to the team!

Singapore Stanford Biodesign Paid Fellowship Open for Applications

First published April 17, 2017

If you’ve ever wanted to experience medical innovation in Asia, this opportunity is for you.

The Singapore Stanford Biodesign Fellowship gives clinicians, engineers, developers, designers, and other aspiring healthcare innovators the opportunity to be immersed in a healthcare innovation project for a year. A unique program that unites diverse career pathways, the SSB Fellowship comprises five months at Stanford in America; immersion and project rollout in a Singaporean hospital; and a three-week clinical immersion in another Asian hospital outside of Singapore. Similar to the original Stanford Biodesign Fellowship, a stipend is included for the program’s duration.

Members of the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Fellowship team. Pic courtesy of SSB.

The clinical theme for the year is selected by SSB’s Board members, challenging participants to develop valuable experience in areas outside their usual training. New ideas are stimulated when an orthopaedic trainee is given an obstetrics focus for the program; similarly, we believe strongly in thinking outside the box to generate better medical solutions.

Some of the program’s previous fellows have gone on to commercialise their projects and been listed on Forbes’ “30 under 30.” There is an option to extend the program for a further period of time after the initial year.

Entries close 2nd May 2017. Preference is given to Singaporean citizens and permanent residents; however, it’s worth a shot if you’re passionate about healthcare and medical technology in Asia. For more information, please visit ssbiodesign.org.

To hear about other programs and opportunities, sign up for our mailing list. 

Job Listing: Australian Medical Startup Looking For Doctor

First published February 20, 2017

Surgical doctor Chandrashan Perera’s startup Nebula has recently been funded after its success in the Melbourne Accelerator Program last year. They’re now looking for another doctor to join their team in a paid non-clinical role.

Nebula’s tech solutions aim to help medicine by improving patient engagement with doctors; improving patients’ understanding of their conditions, and helping busy doctors spend more time looking after patients while collecting data for research.

Ideal Requirements:

• Medical background (junior doctor is suitable, preferably with a surgical interest or background)

• Amazing people skills including being able to meet with hospital directors, surgeons, insurance companies and so forth

• Ability to travel frequently throughout Australia

• Ability to present well at conferences and head up research projects, plus create medical and educational content

This is a varied role that will give you a taste of the startup life, whether you’re wanting a break from studies and fellowship training, or whether you’re deciding to leave clinical medicine fulltime in future to work on healthcare technology solutions. The skills you’d gain would be invaluable for your CV and resume, and would help build networks across the world for better patient care.

If you think you or your friend would be suitable, please contact chandra (at) nebulahealth.com.

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

See The Medical Startup's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

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

1See The Medical Startup's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

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

1See jMTM's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

– 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

2See The Medical Startup's other Tweets

Twitter Ads info and privacy

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.