Public Lecture by Dr Sufyan Akram

Event details
This lecture is being presented as part of the 2022 Compass Conference.
Session: Models of workforce education encouraging deeper learning.

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About the lecture
Do you prefer to input your symptoms to the internet, get advice on laboratory investigations, and get a diagnosis, or you would rather sit with a doctor who listens to you with a caring smile, understands your problems and advises you with compassion? Can you have both?

Advancement in science and technology are shaping the way we care for our patients. Patients have 24/7 access to health advice. They have better, well-informed control over their health. But one question pops up every now and then: Will reliance on technology take away the human touch? This presentation suggests that it shouldn’t and that the technological tools at our disposal can be used to foster better doctor-patient relationships.

Our vision for the future of healthcare education is training doctors through authentic and immersive simulated experiences, enabling them in technology and at the same time developing soft skills such as empathy. Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (XR) can make a difference in a student’s learning by providing more engagement with the material, a more immersive interaction, and more relevant testing. Each aspect of those immersive technologies can add a major improvement on almost every milestone of a student’s journey. When applied properly, they can create an immersive environment where learners can gain both technical knowledge and develop emotional intelligence to deal with difficult situations, for example: it can simulate an accurate stressful situation where a patient is being rushed through emergency; dealing with an aggressive patient; it can also create immersive mental and social health scenarios. Providing instant, accessible, and efficient motivators of learning will indeed shape the healthcare landscape for years to come.

During this presentation, you will have the opportunity to experience some immersive tech hand-on, so bring along your curiosity and be amazed.

Dr. Sufyan Akram is a Senior Lecturer in biomedical science at Charles Darwin University with his research interests being the molecular basis of cancer.

Sufyan completed his medical qualification and basic medical training before pursuing his PhD at the National University of Singapore. Since completing his PhD in 2005, he has worked in various universities around the globe. He has been at CDU since 2018 and has served in various roles in the College of Health and Human Sciences, advocating for innovation in learning and teaching. He has been involved extensively in curriculum development and student engagement. He is not afraid of trying new ways of learning and teaching in his classroom, be it physical or virtual. His keen interest in health profession education led him to do a master’s degree in medical education. He has collaborated actively with researchers in several other disciplines and has published many peer-reviewed articles and contributed to textbooks. Outside of work, Sufyan can be found playing cricket with his kids.