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The Script: Two students among six selected for prestigious Stanford MedX

Janel Shoun-Smith | 

National conference on health care and emerging technology give students new insight

Building on its participation by one student in last year’s Stanford MedX conference, Lipscomb University sent two health science students to the prestigious conference this year to attend as part of a new MedX program designed to enhance the patient-provider relationship using technology.

The 2017 participants were Robert Onyejiaka, a Master of Health Care Informatics student from Nashville, and Tom Wilson, a third-year student in the dual Pharm.D. and Master of Health Care Informatics program, from Columbia, Tennessee. They were accepted into the Stanford University Medicine X Emerging Leader Program, which pairs one e-patient with one health care student for three months of online sharing and discussion about ways to build trustworthy relationships.

At the September MedX conference, held on the Stanford University campus, the patient-student teams had the opportunity to share what they learned from each other with the global MedX community through podium and panel presentations.

Six students were selected from applicants across North America, with participants hailing from the University of California, Los Angeles; Florida State University; the University of Southern California; and the University of British Columbia. They study health disciplines ranging from occupational therapy to medicine. The Lipscomb participants were the only ones from the pharmacy and informatics disciplines.

Onyejiaka was paired with e-patient Doug Lindsay, suffering from a rare autonomic-adrenal disorder, and Wilson worked with e-patient Jasmine Sturr, suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

To see a video of Onyejiaka and Wilson and the other students with their e-patients, click here and then click on "The temr project.".
 

Wilson attended a masterclass taught by Stanford’s Dean of the School of Medicine Lloyd B. Minor.
 

“Every week we met via video call and followed an outline of questions and topics to discuss for that week,” Wilson said of the project to develop a resource to help providers and patients engage in meaningful ways. “I learned so much from her that I will absolutely take with me into my future career.”

MedX is Stanford University’s premier program that focuses on how emerging technologies will advance healthcare while enabling and empowering patients to be active participants in their own care. It is a catalyst for new ideas about the future of medicine and emerging technologies. The Medicine X initiative is designed to explore the potential of social media and information technology to advance the practice of medicine.

Wilson said he was able to gain insight on blockchain technology (the secure database technology behind Bitcoin), artificial technology and machine learning and how best to implement these powerful tools in the health care system. “The portions dealing with future technologies and how they can revolutionize healthcare were absolutely amazing to me,” said Wilson.

Onyejiaka, who plans to pursue entrepreneurial product development in health information technology as a career, said he was excited to attend MedX because “I wanted exposure to new ideas and concepts that provide value for health care customers and service recipients.

“I`ve always considered myself to be a pioneer when it comes to knowledge and discovery,” he said. “I was able to meet with students and professionals from all over the world that all have the same agenda to contribute to the advancement of society through technologically based platforms.”

“There is not another conference in the world that brings together leading patient voices, health care professionals, technologists and designers in such an accessible way as Stanford Medicine X,” said Kevin Clauson, associate professor of pharmacy practice and chair of the Scientific Advisors for the MedX conference.

“At Med X, our students were able to meet luminaries like Susannah Fox, who served as chief technology officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Dennis Boyle, who is a founding member of IDEO and designed the first Palm Pilot, which laid the foundation for today's smartphones. Getting to network and meet new mentors in this type of environment is absolutely priceless,” he said.

Onyejiaka attended workshops discussing how to apply patient engagement in product development as well as presentations by tech entrepreneurs showing the viability of their products, he said. “I learned that emerging technologies are now placing more emphasis on products that tailor to patient behavior,” he said.

Lipscomb’s students were able to take part in hands-on workshops and master classes at Med X. In addition to presenting on the summer project, Wilson was able to attend a masterclass with Stanford’s Dean of the School of Medicine Lloyd B. Minor. “Dean Minor spoke about leading transformational change during a biomedical revolution and the best qualities to have as a leader in such a rapidly changing field,” Wilson said.

Wilson says he would like to practice in digital health and health care informatics upon graduation. “Some options I have been thinking about involve big data analysis for patient-outcomes research and health-system development,” he said.

“For student pharmacists and informatics students, getting exposure to thought leaders in health care, policy, and government at this point in their education really grants them a competitive advantage in terms of learning about what pharmacy and health care will look like in the future,” Clauson said.

In 2016, Clauson was the only pharmacist invited to a one-day conference on Precision Medicine held by Stanford Medicine at the U.S. White House, where his group worked on blockchain applications for health care. He has done extensive research on patients’ medication adherence in digital and mobile health formats.

“Technology and informatics will continue to be driving forces in health care going forward. What better place to examine that future than in Silicon Valley at the intersection of health care and emerging technology?” he said. “By being selected for the Emerging Leader Program, these Lipscomb students received both a sneak peek into the future of health care and a firsthand lesson that the role of the patient is paramount regardless of the technology.”

To see more on the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences click here.

To read more stories from The Script, December 2017, edition click here.