Brief
Overview/Summary of the themes/topics
addressed during the session
Session
6 talked about BioBusiness Revolution in healthcare and biomedical industry. This
is an interesting topic for me because it is the first time I come across this
term. The Professor said that any business that had to do with life was
BioBusiness. This meant that BioBusiness was a very broad subject and that
almost every product or service we see or deal with each day is under this
subject. In this session, we focused on healthcare. And the discussion of the
role of technology in the advancement of healthcare was very intriguing. It was
especially exciting to watch the various new technology being used in the
healthcare industry, i.e. 3D organ printing.
Interesting
Observations and Ideas (ideas and
concepts that captured your attention)
One
concept I found interesting is in the video “Future
of Healthcare”. It showed that in the near future, everything would be
digitalised. With technology being integrated deeply in the healthcare
industry, much time would be saved and appointments with specialists or doctors
become faster and more efficient. With this increase in efficiency, there may
no longer be long queues at the hospitals, because meeting the doctor can be
done at the comfort of the home and through video conferencing.
All
these technology in healthcare would definitely make healthcare more accessible
to everyone. More time is saved and more help can be given. In fact, I do
believe that this advancement in the healthcare industry will be extremely
beneficial to the developing nations. In developing nations where there is a
limit of trained doctors and nurses, technology will play a very significant
role in increasing productivity, such that doctors can attend to more patients.
With
all the possibilities that the future of healthcare can bring about, it is
difficult not to ponder on how long more will it take for this to happen. This
was the question raised in class and I found it exceptionally asked on spot.
There
are many predictions of how technology can revolutionise the world and change
our lives entirely. And these predictions are usually featured in
science-fiction films and books. It is hard to believe that step-by-step, we
are actually beginning to close the gap between fiction and reality.
Even
though I do agree that such technology is already existent and it is already
possible to create the “future of healthcare”, but I do not believe that it
will be implemented in the near future. I believe that this change may take a
while and even longer for the developing nations. There are still many challenges
to be overcome, such as the high cost involved, employment issues due to
technology replacing jobs, as well as people being resistant to change
(especially the older generation who may not know how to use such technology).
Arguably,
the healthcare sector has always been highly valued and it is possible for such
change to occur soon. Yet, it cannot be denied that a lot of effort would be
needed to build this digitalised healthcare system. It would be a fascinating
future. I suppose that indeed, “we are living in exciting times”.
Key Take Away
Points (the 2 or 3 key messages from the
session that you intend to keep in mind going forward)
A key point that I want to takeaway is that ICT has
changed the healthcare industry a lot and is essential for further development
of this industry. For the layman, it is commonly assumed that ICT exists mostly
in our social lives, and that healthcare is being associated with “knowledge”,
“education”, and “science”, and so on. I was previously unaware of the
importance of ICT in the healthcare industry. It was surprising to me how much
benefit ICT has brought into this industry.
This article “The
impact of ICTs on health care” writes that ICT has brought about a much
efficient way of communication through the use of the Internet in developing
countries. And this has made it easier to access knowledge in healthcare
sector. With a more informed population, measures can be taken to reduce
chances of falling sick.
Prevention is better than cure; ICT has made it
possible for people in developing nations to take precautions, and this will
reduce the number of patients.
ICT has and will bring about much more advancement
in the healthcare industry. I think that it is important to bear this in mind
because there is more potential to uncover and much more can be done to expand
the usage of ICT in healthcare.
Another
key message I found important is that healthcare is a very important factor for
development in a country. And it is crucial to identify the diseases affecting
the population so that proper measures can be carried out to solve it.
It
was shown in the graph (in the slides from class) that communicable diseases
had higher effect in certain areas, while chronic diseases were more prominent
in other areas. i.e. More people in the Sub-Saharan Africa suffered from
communicable diseases than chronic diseases.
It is interesting that there are different causes
of death in different areas in the world. And I cannot help but relate it to
Yali’s question of inequality of development in the world. Why do some
countries suffer from a certain disease, while other countries do not, and
instead suffer from another type of disease?
It was pointed in class that this difference was
due to the availability of infrastructure and basic amenities (i.e. clean
water) in the certain areas and the absence of these in other areas.
I think it is important to identify the root cause
to these differences and find solutions to resolve them. This would be
essential in aiding progression in the developing countries. Healthcare is essentially
an issue that every country needs to take note of because only with a healthy
population can countries have the hope of maximising productivity levels.
Issues for Further Discussion (stuff
you wish had been considered or given more air-time in class – and why)
I
wished that more discussion were held on the 3D printing of organs. I believe
that similar to organ cloning, there would be many controversial issues tied in
with 3D printing of organs. And I felt that it would be good to hear what
others have to say about this subject matter. This would definitely broaden my
perspective of the issue of 3D printing of organs. Presently, I view this
technology as unreliable and truthfully, a little frightening. This method is,
ultimately using machine to create life form. And this can lead to two very
different outcomes. It is my hope that it would be positive outcome that come
true, because the other outcome can lead to disastrous consequences that future
generations have to face.
Personal
Ratings for Session (how you would rate the
session on a scale of 0 to 10. Feel free to be as subjective as you like in
your assessment)
This
topic reminds me about importance of integrating technology in different
fields. It is these forms of innovation that will help us achieve both an
advanced and a sustainable world. Presentations made by the students were quite
interesting, although some issues brought up were commonly known. I felt that
the introduction to the future of healthcare was rather insightful. It never
fails to amaze me what technology has the potential to achieve. I would rate an
8/10.
