The need for technical innovation in medicine

It should go without saying that for me medicine is not a path of least resistance … it’s a calling, and I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to combine my engineering with medicine. There are some issues in medicine that are perhaps mostly a matter of physician head count (rural medicine, HIV/AIDS corps in Africa). At the same time, I’m convinced that if we want to maintain or improve on the average medical care we provide in the U.S., we need physicians who are interested in innovative applications of technology to medical care and can do so with cost in mind. We don’t just need more widgets in medicine (although they are cool).

I’m convinced that engineers have provided society and even medicine with sophisticated, relatively inexpensive engineered products such as new computers that do more and cost the same or less than the year before as well as increasing availability and improving capabilities of laptop-sized sonogram equipment. With the demographic shift toward and older population and concerns about the cost of medical care in the U.S. in the future, medicine seems to be facing very challenging problems that impact many people. These appear to be issues where someone with my background of engineering, business, and technology might be able to help with some innovative improvements.

As I get into medicine, I will be looking for opportunities to perhaps innovate in the use of technology to improve safety for patients and maybe push the envelope on what we can do for patients though proper use of technology. Maybe computerized systems can do more to help catch and prevent medication and surgical issues that lead to complications. Maybe in the future robotic surgery equipment can remove tumors that would be inoperable today. Perhaps a patient’s genetic information can play a very helpful role in anticipating disease or selecting treatments. I can see the potential for innovation like this already and look forward to being a part of innovative patient care in the future.