Surgeon turned technologist. I build software for the public sector. I spent over a decade in medicine before moving into technology. I've built regulated...
In the late 1990s I was studying clinical medicine. The medical education back then split early pre-clinical years (basic sciences) from the later clinical years (patients). The deductive reasoning of the former sometimes jarred with the pattern recognition of the latter. I was on a cardiology ward, examining a patient with heart failure. His heart was failing to pump blood properly, which caused…
In my first year at university, I needed to open a bank account with a local branch and change my GP to one close by. When I opened the bank account, they misspelt my surname. They were not the first, but it was a bank, a trusted institution, and it managed to make this type of mistake. I was sent a bank card and chequebook that confirmed the error. Some organisations (including the NHS) accept a…
When I was at Caradigm (a Microsoft, GE joint venture), we implemented among other products a Single Sign-On (SSO) solution, one login for many apps. This was not technically a 'clinical' application, it was used in other industries, but it saved doctors hours every day. Its implementation involved working mainly with IT. Maybe there would be some clinical 'champions', but you could work behind…
Medicine is one of those disciplines where ethics and moral philosophy are more than just academic interests; they have real-world implications. I was once part of the surgical team where a patient died waiting for a liver transplant, because we deemed he wasn't enough of a priority to receive the liver that was available. I have also seen a very underweight patient with bowel cancer die as a…
When I was a junior doctor, I rotated through the surgical specialties. Being on-call for surgical emergencies, particularly on the weekends or at night, the workload could vary dramatically. It could be an extra night's sleep or a complete nightmare. When things were calm for too long, the doctors' mess became a superstitious place to hang out, the word 'quiet' could not be spoken out loud for…
I was a junior doctor when the national programme for IT was announced. I had recently learnt to develop in C for the Palm Pilot and I was genuinely excited. Imagine if I could get the test results to sync to my palm! You would not believe the amount of actual legwork that was required to walk (and sometimes run) around the hospital to order tests, take bloods, get test results and write them in…