In line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), an international conference that is focused on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on various aspects of medical practice and medical education was held from 4 to 6 July 2019 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus.
This conference is the 2nd Biennial Medical & Health Sciences Conference organised by the UTAR Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS). This conference on ‘Health Care Transformation in the 4th Industrial Revolution’ was designed to provide a platform where academics, practitioners and researchers can share their knowledge, expertise and experience related to the role and impact of AI in medicine and health sciences. The conference programme included six plenary sessions presented by eminent experts, over twenty talks or related topics as well as two post-conference workshops.
The opening ceremony held on the 4th July 2019 was graced by UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik, President of the Chinese Anti-Tuberculosis Association (CATA, Dr Liu Jianjun, Prof Datuk Dr Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud, University Malaya, Emeritus Prof Dr Cheong Soon Keng, Dean of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Prof Dr Yap Sook Fan, Deputy Dean R&D (FMHS) and chairperson of the conference, and Prof Dr John EJ Rasko AO, University of Sydney. The participants included medical professionals, academics and scientists from several local as well as international institutes.
The message from the UTAR President touched on the challenges faced by the medical profession in the digital era facing us, and emphasised on the need for the medical profession to keep abreast of the latest developments in the technology. The FMHS Dean, in his welcoming address concurred with this and added that it is now timely for the profession to examine these new frontiers as we move into the era of the 4IR which will touch every aspect of human life. It was further pointed out that healthcare will be increasingly technology-driven and dominated by AI and big data analytics; hence, academics and practitioners in the healthcare industry must rise to the occasion to stay relevant.
“We have brought together academics and researchers with vast knowledge and experience to share their viewpoints and perspectives on a range of topics related to new technologies and their impact on the evolving medical practice, education and research. With the promise of positive changes heralded by these advances, the ethical issues that invariably would follow are also addressed in this conference. It is our hope that the participants will find the sessions useful, interesting and inspiring,” said Dr Yap.
The conference commenced with a keynote address delivered by Prof Chuah. He addressed the trends and challenges faced by the global community. He pointed out that the medical profession is not exempt and will need to rise to this challenges posed by the digital revolution. The profession should be ready to embrace, adopt and adapt to the unprecedented advances in medical technology and healthcare practices that is inevitable with this revolution.
Dr Liu Jianjun, President of CATA, expressed his gratitude to UTAR for inviting the Chinese Anti-tuberculosis Association to participate in the 2nd Biennial Medical & Health Sciences Conference 2019. He touched on the good relationship between UTAR and CATA, and mentioned the CATA-UTAR memorandum of understanding which was signed on 20th September 2018. In a follow-up visit of a CATA delegation in December 2018 details of the cooperation between the two organisations were discussed. At UTAR’s invitation, CATA arranged more than 20 delegates to attend the UTAR 2nd Biennial Medical and Health Sciences Conference. At this conference and the post-conference workshop, experts from China will give five presentations to share the recent progress in scientific research and technology innovations in TB control and prevention in China.
The conference saw three plenary speakers, namely Prof Awang Bulgiba, Malaysian Medical Council Dr Milton Lum Siew Wah and Prof Rasko.
