Reboot
education

June 2, 2018 -- Attending my alma mater UCSF's annual Alumni Weekend today, I heard a fascinating talk by the acclaimed Dr. Eric Topol, named the most influential physician executive in the United States. In his wide-ranging talk, Dr. Topol touted some amazing new devices available (now or soon) to consumers including a continuous blood pressure monitoring wristwatch, a non-invasive blood glucose monitor, an EKG watch with more accurate readings than most cardiologists, and so on.

The technology of health care is changing fast, he told us, and the role of the clinician is changing from that of data gatherer to that of data interpreter. Thanks to artificial intelligence, it will soon be more important for doctors to be good communicators than "brainiacs" (expert diagnosticians).

How do we get there? "Reboot education," he says. Among other radical changes, this means teaching more about technology.

My own nursing school experience -- not so long ago -- confirms this. We had not a single lecture on, for example, the topic of the electronic health record (EHR) let alone an entire class... Despite the fact that nurses quite literally spend more time in front of the computer than in front of the patient.

Reboot education indeed!

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