I spent the day working at the Stanford MedX conference and it has been a wonderful experience. MedX is an annual conference focusing on medicine and emerging technologies, with a focus on patient empowerment. MedX is an interdisciplinary meeting of minds that focuses on finding new ways to use technology to improve health. The speakers today ranged from physicians and artists to CEOs and patients, all coming together for three days to brainstorm and exchange ideas. One talk I attended focused on #whatifHC (what if health care), a hashtag started a year ago that has inspired thousands of tweets around the world about people’s dreams for healthcare. Another focused on self tracking, and how patients are becoming more empowered through self tracking apps and online patient communities that allows them to share information easily. Yet another talk was on physician-patient communication and how patients can add to their own care.
For the second year in a row, the Stanford MedX conference is implementing a Global Access Program, so that anyone around the world can participate in the conference through live webcasts and interviews with key speakers. I was fortunate enough to be invited back this year to be the Global Access Host, where I am working with Bita Ryan, an Emmy award winning former NBC producer, and her wonderful camera crew to put together segments for online streaming. I have been interviewing speakers and participants at the conference in between sessions, and I feel so lucky because I get one on one time with all of these talented individuals whom I can learn so much from. Sure, we’re on camera when we have these interactions, but I feel like it’s just me and the person I’m interviewing, having a conversation about his or her work. I interviewed 14 individuals today to start off the conference, and I met some very inspirational people. I cannot wait to see who I will meet in the next two days!
MedX is a wonderful place to discuss ways that new technology is revolutionizing healthcare and how we communicate about health. I will keep the blog updated as I continue interviewing conference speakers and participants and learning more about what we can do to take full advantage of today’s technology for medicine.
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