Chief Guest for Convocation Ceremony

Sri Ramachandra University

Chief Guest for Convocation Ceremony

S.Ramadorai

(Chennai, 16th June 2016, 4:00 pm)

Shri V.R. Venkataachalam, Chancellor

Dr Partha Sarathy, Professor of Eminence and Chief Advisor

Dr. Thyagarajan, Professor of Eminence and Dean (Research)

Dr. J.S.N. Murthy, Vice- Chancellor

Thiru Natarajan, Registrar

Members of the board of Management and Academic Council and my dear students

A very good afternoon to all of you!

Introduction:

It is a pleasure to be here, at the 23rd convocation ceremony of Sri Ramachandra University. First and foremost, congratulations to all the students graduating today. Convocation symbolizes a transition from being a student of an institution to becoming a student of LIFE engaged in the practice of a vocation. You are fortunate that your institution has provided you with the knowledge, techniques and skills that you will need in today’s dynamic environment. I am also told that the Sri Ramachandra University is ranked amongst the top 10 Medical institutions in India and is placed amongst the top 3 medical institutes in South India by recent education surveys. What appeals most to me – is the fact that Sri Ramachandra University, through its nine constituent colleges not only addresses the needs of core medical professionals, it also caters to the applied fields of biomedical sciences, applied research and allied health sciences, hospital management, which are also important in the medical ecosystem.

Technological Innovations disrupting the healthcare ecosystem:

Having spent my entire career in the information technology industry, it has been interesting to see the increasingly influential role played by information technology in the medical ecosystem. Let me share a few examples:

Virtual reality and immersive technologies are now increasingly used to train surgeons, and even to help patients dealing with neurological disorders. One of our teams in Chennai is working with VR technologies. They also work with 3D printers. Today, several researchers are able to 3D print biological tissue, and sooner than later, 3D printing of living organs is going to be a practical reality.

Another practical application of technology in medical science is Robotic surgery. The high precision of the robot allows for minimally invasive surgery and drastically reduces any chances of error in the surgery. The culture of the technology world has seeped into medical surgical robots as well, and there are very strong Open Source robots now available, and it may be worth examining closely.

Genetics and advances in molecular biology have given a new dimension to the study of life science and healthcare with the world famous human GENOME project. A whole new field of bioinformatics has come into being, intertwining the disciplines of genetics and computing. Genomics is also shifting the pharmaceutical industry from the blockbuster drug model to a personalized medicine model. The rapid progress made by CRISPR techniques(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)is heralding profound changes- from the way we eliminate pests, cure genetic disorders, to producing pest resistant crops or increasing energy yield of biomass.

Computational Biology

In fact, just as technology is contributing to biology, the reverse is also true. Scientists have been using deep learning algorithms which try to model the human brain, especially in areas of speech, image recognition. Recently a few months ago, Google’s alpha GO, a deep learning software won the challenge match against Lee Sedol, the widely recognised worldwide GO champion. Using these deep learning algorithms, we can now sequence an individual genome for as less than $1000, compared to $10,000 , just a few years ago.

Technology as a Great Equalizer

I look at technology as a great equalizer. Technology helps improve the accessibility and affordability of any product or service by breaking geographical and economic barriers. This is relevant especially in a country like India, where there is a stark divide between urban and rural areas and socio-economic backgrounds.

With increasing usage of tele-medicine ‘specialist doctors’ can now connect to remote places and help save lives. It is heartening to note that the Sri Ramachandra Hospital has also been at the forefront of utilising Information Technology. Using a satellite link, a doctor seated at the Sri Ramachandra Hospital in Chennai is linked remotely via a satellite to either a doctor or a nurse actually attending to patients in some remote locations of the country. The satellite link, enables the doctor to provide outpatient consultations and facilitate follow-ups for patients who have undergone operations and returned home, thus helping them save time and money. Thanks to high-speed broadband and the internet, tele-medicine is slowly but surely gaining traction in rural India, especially where accessibility is a problem.

Another example of how use of technology can help in making accessibility of healthcare facilities easier is the implementation of the new OPD management process at AIIMS New Delhi. With digitization of the AIIMS processes and the introduction of innovative processes, it has helped in streamlining and reducing the waiting period for OPD patients from 6 hours to less than 2 hours. This new system has brought in more convenience and accessibility to more than 3 million patients who visit AIIMS every year.

A lot of importance has been given to data in delivering efficient and effective health care. Our teams have built and deployed powerful data analytic platforms that enable to track and improve patient outcomes. With the emergence of Big Data and Machine Learning algorithms, predictive healthcare is going to become a reality. For example, India is today the diabetes capital of the world. A recent Times of India report mentions that as many as 50 million people suffer from type-2 diabetes in India.What is even more alarming is that perhaps a larger number of our fellow citizens are not even aware that they may already be diabetic. In the near future, it may be possible that just with simple android phones and fitness trackers, we may able to predict diabetes, and encourage such people to get tested early so that their health outcomes are better and cost of care is lower for the patient.

The suite of technologies comprising of what we call as ‘Internet of Things or IoT’ is opening new ways to track and create value from this ‘data’. Wearable devices’ like fitbit or smartwatches like the iWatch are capturing basic data related to walking and sleep patterns. Beyond such basic data, there are devices to monitor clinical data (e.g., blood glucose or heart rate), and adherence data (e.g., taking medications as prescribed).

Internet of Things

India is not far behind in the IoT journey – Biosense, an IIM-Ahmedabad incubation company has introduced ToucHb, a hand-held non-invasive, battery operated device that enables screening for anaemia and simplifies monitoring of basic parameters on a regular basis. It is empowering health workers with appropriate technology and enables them with actionable data. The Swasthya slate is another example of an Indian innovation where 33 diagnostic tests are made available on a low-cost mobile device.

The information generated by the health sensors and technology further transforms medicine from an art to a precision science. A real time analysis of this data can help us adjust our daily routine towards achieving good health and reducing the need of in-person doctor visits or hospitalizations. The value which comes out of all this data is incredible.

Healthcare Data:

Healthcare data can be mined and insights gleaned to make hospitals a six sigma system. We have several pioneers in our own country like Dr. Devi Shetty who has achieved amazing results. Such a data led approach can eventually invert the healthcare paradigm by focusing on wellness and prevention rather than illness and treatment.

Given India’s infrastructure woes, we are now looking at innovative means to ensure speedy transportation of human organs like the heartor kidney using aerial drones. There is a project being carried out in Bengaluru to understand its feasibility.

Another example is the use of Quality improvement techniques such as Ishikawa diagrams for root cause analysis which are now being piloted across Healthcare. Such techniques were once restricted to the manufacturing and the software industry but are now finding popularity across medical disciplines too.

I am reminded of my days when there was only one family doctor for all our healthcare needs. With increasing specialization, these days are gone. We now find the need to share our health and family history records with several ‘specialists’ since it influences key decisions related to diagnosis and treatment. Information Technology can play a powerful role by creating software records of patients that can be shared across doctors and hospitals to bring increased transparency, efficiency and convenience. This system is already in use in western countries, especially countries where healthcare is the Government’s responsibility like the NHS in the UK, and I foresee something similar happening in India soon.

What these various examples demonstrate is that technology not only helps to bring about advances in medicine, but also helps improve the quality and affordability of healthcare and ultimately improve patient outcomes.

Opportunities in Healthcare:

As a country, I feel there are several exciting opportunities, in the near and medium term. India may be one of the fastest growing nations in terms of GDP growth, but unfortunately a lot of gaps exist in health outcomes in India. While there has been an increase in the number of doctors graduating, the overall doctor to patient ratio across India is quite low. And rural areas are still facing an acute shortage of qualified medical professionals.

Recently our Prime minister launched the Start-Up India scheme to make it easier for entrepreneurs to focus on unmet needs in our society! Telemedicine and intelligent diagnostic support systems are two obvious opportunities for ambitious and talented young doctors to collaborate with engineers and entrepreneurs.

Speaking of entrepreneurship, the Government has successfully launched a Make in India campaign as well. As you are aware, most the medical equipment in our country is imported. There is a tremendous opportunity for innovation and entrepreneurship here. India can be a very attractive test-bed for low cost but high-tech medical equipment. For example, a bright young researcher from IIT Bombay has made considerable progress in low cost MRI machines that have the potential to disrupt the entire MRI industry.

I must also add that the Government is focussed on Health and family welfare in a big way by launching various new schemes and a push towards increased usage of IT for expanding the health services. Today there is a ‘Swastha Bharat’ Mobile app available which gives information on living a healthy lifestyle, disease symptoms, first aid and more importantly public health alerts based on your location. After a gap of 13 years the National Health Policy is being rewritten with an aim to inform, clarify, strengthen and prioritise the role of the Government in shaping health systems. The draft version is already available in the public domain for stakeholder consultation. There has been enhanced awareness on health issues throughout the country by various multi-media campaigns. The National Health Mission is also working on improving the infrastructure and presence of healthcare facilities in the rural areas.

Quality and Skills:

With these basic building blocks now falling in place, there is also a need to ensure that the right quality standards are being followed and all the workforce in the healthcare industry are adequately skilled. With this in mind, a Healthcare Sector Skill Council has been created with the active participation of the Government, industry associations and leading healthcare providers. Its focus is on identifying skill gap studies across the Healthcare domain, framing national occupation standards, developing high quality courses and training modules, implement quality checks and build accreditation and certification for the training providers and the students and enable employment by organising various employment fairs across the country. This is very important considering the requirement of healthcare and allied healthcare professionals throughout the country as well as across the world. Be it in areas like Geriatric care which is now becoming very popular in Europe, or basic areas like specialised child care which is often neglected in countries like India. The requirement of skilled professionals is the need of the hour. I will also take a moment to urge all of you to ensure that in your future ‘jobs’, please ensure you hire ‘skilled’ and ‘certified’ professionals rather than people who may have got trained on the job without the right skills and knowledge to back their experience. The Government also has a Recognition of Prior skills program, which enables such people to be assessed and certified at their skill level and accordingly take ‘supplementary courses’ to reach a desired level.

I have always wondered about how to make medical help affordable to the general public in India. While the government is doing its bit, how can we as individuals contribute towards this? A few months ago, I came across an interesting article. Originating in Naples, Italy, is a custom called ‘Caffe Sospeso’ translating to ‘suspended coffee’. This means a cup of coffee paid for in advance as an anonymous act of charity. This was a custom, where people who were well-to-do paid for two cups of coffee while consuming only one. A poor person enquiring later whether there was a sospeso available would then be served a coffee for free with all the dignity due to a regular customer. This was a very moving article and I thought that this was very much applicable to India in the context of medical services. Can people who belong to an economically higher strata pay for medical services of somebody else who cannot afford the same? Is this a practice worth emulating in India?

Another area which is now gaining limelight is the use of generic medicines in prescription. The Government has started the ‘Jan Aushadhi Yojana’ to help sell good quality generic medicines at a lower price. In India where more than 21% of its population are below the poverty line this unique and noble concept will be of much help. As doctors I believe that you hold the key to share generic alternatives with patients thus giving them the choice of opting for low cost but similar quality medicines to your patients.

As you stand on the cusp of a new life, may I urge you to look beyond narrow gains to a larger vision of your profession and your society. I urge you to continue to work for the welfare of your patients who always look towards a medical practitioner with hope, expectation and more importantly with trust.

Before I conclude, let me remind you that now Learning is a life-long process for each one of you. The dynamics of knowledge, markets, technology and skills are so fluid in today’s world that in order to be on ‘top of one’s game’, one needs to continuously seek and continuously learn.

Each one of you is an ambassador of this institution, so keep the flag flying high by working with honesty and commitment.

In closing let me recall the words of Swami Vivekananda who urged us to adhere to ‘the highest ideals. Place them day and night before you ……and out of that will come great work’. Congratulations once again and my best wishes for a great life ahead!

Thank you

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