The American Board of Otolaryngology and the American Academy of Otolaryngology are working together to merge their two curricula and then add educational material to improve resident education.
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January 2017The bottom line: While memorizing some foundational information will likely always be necessary for physicians, learning methods will surely continue to change as the fields of medicine and technology advance.
Karen Appold is a freelance medical writer based in Pennsylvania.
IBM Watson: Translating Big Data into Big Insights
IBM Watson is a cognitive system that uses natural language processing and machine learning to translate big data from formats such as electronic medical records, images, and wearables into actionable insights. In healthcare, “Watson is serving as a trusted adviser to support physicians in making important clinical decisions,” said Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, IBM’s chief health officer for Watson Health in Ridgefield, Conn.
On average, physicians spend approximately four to five hours a month reading medical journals. Many medical professions, however, require 29 hours per day to keep up to date. By reading all of the information in a medical chart and staying up to date with the most recent studies in journals, Watson can provide insight to physicians at the point of care, such as making them aware of a study or a piece of information in a medical chart that they didn’t recall, said Dr. Rhee.
“IBM Watson provides an opportunity for physicians to … be more predictive, proactive, and personalized as they aim to prevent bad outcomes and help promote healthy outcomes,” Dr. Rhee said.