Over 180 medical students successfully completed the UN!course on Digitalization and Innovations in Medicine.

The 2023/2024 academic year of the UN!course on Digitalization and Innovations in Medicine, organized by the Digital Health and Innovation Cluster Bulgaria at Medical University-Sofia, has concluded with great success, as more than 180 students graduated from the course this year. The program, which has been running for the fifth consecutive year, attracted 25 lecturers from the digital health community in Bulgaria, who delivered lectures on various topics and practical examples from the industry.

In the first part of the course, students had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with key topics related to digital transformation, leadership, critical thinking, and critical reading in medicine. These topics lay the foundation for the second semester, which focuses on the role of technologies and specific use cases related to the application of technologies and artificial intelligence in good medical practice.

Practical examples and innovations

The second semester of the course began with an introduction to digital transformation and a lecture on prevention and promotion in healthcare, led by Dr. Rosen Dimitrov. The semester focused on demonstrating practical cases from the digital healthcare industry across the entire patient journey, covering topics such as telemedicine, the application of artificial intelligence in medicine, and value-based healthcare (VBHC).

“Prevention and the role of data” by Vera Duhleva, a business professional with 10 years of experience in life sciences and the pharmaceutical industry, and current head of the digital technologies, data, and operations department. Vera emphasized the role of data in achieving effective health prevention and promotion, presenting a case on HPV vaccination. She also highlighted various digital campaigns that have saved lives through innovative therapies and increased patient knowledge.

“Value-based healthcare and its applications” by Yordan Iliev, co-founder and CEO of MY Synergy – a health-tech company focused on development, optimization, and digital transformation. Yordan presented the concept of VBHC with practical examples and cases of application. He emphasized the importance of achieving higher quality healthcare services while optimizing costs to create greater value for patients across all aspects of the patient journey.

AI applications in medicine – Kelvin Health case study: Georgi Kostadinov, co-founder and CTO of Kelvin Health, presented a case on the use of artificial intelligence in medicine, focusing on AI-based computer vision algorithms. He emphasized the effectiveness of AI in analyzing medical data and its applications in personalized medicine and drug discovery, predicting significant advances in patient care and medical research.

Looking ahead to next year

Next year, the UN!course will continue with lectures focused on soft skills in medicine, such as open innovations, leadership, critical thinking, critical reading, digital transformation, and more. The second semester in 2025 will focus on precise digital innovations and solutions with practical cases from our community.

The UN!course on Digitalization and Innovations in Medicine provides up-to-date information and practical skills in the rapidly evolving field of digital healthcare. We look forward to the next academic year and the new challenges it will bring.