Medicine plus Technology

[PreMedical1]

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I am a pre-medical student with a fairly technology intensive background. I am and have been interested in medicine for quite some time while. Lately I have been missing/lacking exposure to what I'll call "technology."

I'm curious if anyone else is in this situation or perhaps knows a medical student/physician that has both clinical interests and interests in working with "technology." And more of a specific example, obviously this can be accomplished with research. At present, coming from a physical science background I feel a little bit like an oddity in this respect.

 

[Compass]

Would you be more interested in bio-medical engineering? That sounds like what you're trying to describe.

 

[armybound]

What kind of technology? Robotics or computer systems?

There's a largely growing field called biomedical informatics. There are definitely a lot of physicians working in this regard, especially at Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Stanford, IUPUI/Riegenstrief, Columbia, OHSU, etc.

 

[RevDM]

Radiologists use cool and insanely expensive technology

 

[PreMedical1]

Thanks for the replies.

Armybound - I think my interests are more on the robotics side of things. I enjoy the process of developing the technology and challenges that go along with it.

I think that is sort of what confuses me as far as what I want to/could do. I'm not sure it would be possible to combine the above interest with working in a clinical setting. They seem very different.

 

[armybound]

you could get into PM&R or orthopedics and deal with people who need prosthetics

 

[sciencebooks]

Would you be more interested in bio-medical engineering? That sounds like what you're trying to describe.

That's what I was thinking. I'm studying biomedical physics and we do a few tech-based courses too, but I know my school's the only one in the state with the program and so it's probably not extremely popular yet.

 

[nabeel76]

What kind of technology? Robotics or computer systems?

There's a largely growing field called biomedical informatics. There are definitely a lot of physicians working in this regard, especially at Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Stanford, IUPUI/Riegenstrief, Columbia, OHSU, etc.

What exactly is biomedical informatics, I have seen programs in bioinformatics as well. I always thought it was more of a biostatistics type thing but never really looked into it.

 

[armybound]

What exactly is biomedical informatics, I have seen programs in bioinformatics as well. I always thought it was more of a biostatistics type thing but never really looked into it.

Bioinformatics and medical informatics (aka clinical informatics sometimes) are usually completely different. Both involve using computer programming to solve some sort of medical issue, though.

Bioinformatics usually revolves around some kind of protein, DNA, or RNA analysis, usually sequencing or probing, to determine what's in a cell, what's different between cells, what's different in disease states, etc.

Medical/clinical informatics is using medical data (lab results, drug orders, etc) to evaluate and hopefully improve medical practice. That might involve suggesting a better dose for a drug based on empirical evidence, notifying someone if a patient's status appears to be deteriorating (labs looking bad), or developing a new order entry or EMR system.

They all use some sort of (usually) electronic data to figure out where improvements can be made.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_informatics

 

[Compass]

What exactly is biomedical informatics, I have seen programs in bioinformatics as well. I always thought it was more of a biostatistics type thing but never really looked into it.

Bioinformatics is basically fancy-pants for computers in biology. Imagine stuff like BLAST and genome processing. Taking biological data, adding a bit of computer magic, and having it do the work for you. Anything ranging from simple reverse complement management of DNA bases to 3D projection and protein folding prediction using raw data and computer processing power.

Biomedical informatics is basically handling medical data, be it medical records, biometric scanning, or DNA fingerprinting of a person. More geared towards medicine than strictly any biological subject.

Let's put it this way. For every 100 people we graduated from our Biology program, we had 1 person graduate from our Bioinformatics program.

 

[PreMedical1]

you could get into PM&R or orthopedics and deal with people who need prosthetics

Thanks again for the responses. Bioinformatics seems intriguing, but I think my interests are more in the physical domain. Biomedical engineering does seem interesting and I'm not entirely sure of everything they do. I've done a little reading on it. It seems like a very broad field.

Biomedical engineering also seems more like a distinct specialty, separate from clinical medicine. I think more of what I'm trying to find is a way to combine those two things. I'm not exactly sure what that would be, or if it is even possible.

 

[nabeel76]

Bioinformatics and medical informatics (aka clinical informatics sometimes) are usually completely different. Both involve using computer programming to solve some sort of medical issue, though.

Bioinformatics usually revolves around some kind of protein, DNA, or RNA analysis, usually sequencing or probing, to determine what's in a cell, what's different between cells, what's different in disease states, etc.

Medical/clinical informatics is using medical data (lab results, drug orders, etc) to evaluate and hopefully improve medical practice. That might involve suggesting a better dose for a drug based on empirical evidence, notifying someone if a patient's status appears to be deteriorating (labs looking bad), or developing a new order entry or EMR system.

They all use some sort of (usually) electronic data to figure out where improvements can be made.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_informatics

Interesting, thanks. I've been starting to see those fields mentioned more and more often over the past couple of years but had no clue what they really involved.

 

[Compass]

Thanks again for the responses. Bioinformatics seems intriguing, but I think my interests are more in the physical domain. Biomedical engineering does seem interesting and I'm not entirely sure of everything they do. I've done a little reading on it. It seems like a very broad field.

Biomedical engineering also seems more like a distinct specialty, separate from clinical medicine. I think more of what I'm trying to find is a way to combine those two things. I'm not exactly sure what that would be, or if it is even possible.

You make medical robots, prosthetics, new medical tools, etc. You could become an MD, perhaps with a BS in BME, and then offer to do clinical testing for a BME company, I suppose.

 

[PreMedical1]

You make medical robots, prosthetics, new medical tools, etc. You could become an MD, perhaps with a BS in BME, and then offer to do clinical testing for a BME company, I suppose.

That sounds really pretty interesting. Do people do this currently? Or is this more of an idea? What are they called if so and do they work for the hospital or the biomedical company?

 

[09javcar]

Biotechnology? Hot new field. Lots of expensive high-tech equipment used and it serves a large purpose in the advancement of medicine.

 

[TechGuy97]

Sorry to bring this one back from the dead, but I figured it's better than starting a new thread.

So, I think I am interested in biomedical informatics. I am currently a CS undergrad, but I am interested in medicine/the human body and would love to mix that into my CS career. Anyway, does anyone know the best route to getting a career in biomedical informatics? I know there are MS and PhD programs, but I've also heard about some getting their MD, and then doing fellowships? Anyone know what's the best choice?

Any information would be helpful!

 

[Snowman334]

Take a look at this.

Cybernetic Prosthesis