Using Technology to Enhance the Humanity in Medicine - Dr. Eric Topol, Executive VP of Scripps Research

“It seems counterintuitive, but I believe we can use technology to enhance the humanity in medicine and get back to the deep connection with patients we used to have,” says Dr. Eric Topol, one of the most cited researchers and influential thinkers in the field. In a series of bestselling books on the future of medicine, Topol laid out that digitization of health information would lead to democratization of data and patient empowerment, and that applying machine learning and other technologies in the right ways could actually create room to enhance the level of humanity in medicine – something he feels has been lost over the years. “The reason we went into medicine was to care for patients, and if you feel you can't provide care because of all of the demands modern medicine places on clinicians, that's when you get depressed, and you get disenchanted, and you lose your sense of your mission.” In this fascinating dialogue with host Shiv Gaglani, Topol talks about the potential of Artificial Intelligence and deep neural networks to “get us out of the mess we’re in and usher in the most exciting time in medicine.” They also touch on COVID and highlights of his career including starting a medical school, being editor in chief of Medscape, and his research work in genomics.
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