New Course Prepares Students for the Digital Health Revolution

Technology has affected all aspects of our lives and all industries, including healthcare, which is being transformed by digital health.

“The term digital health encompasses disruptive technologies that capture, store, transmit and analyze health data,” said A. Hasan Sapci, MD, assistant professor of health informatics in the College of Nursing and Public Health.

Health apps for smartphones and Fitbits are just the tip of the iceberg of these technologies. According to Dr. Sapci, medical professionals are using “sensors, wearable devices and other products that run programs that collect and analyze data to monitor patients’ activities and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments.”

The use of digital health has rapidly progressed during the COVID-19 pandemic. To flatten the curve, government agencies relaxed regulations on digital health to allow healthcare providers to treat more patients virtually rather than in person. As medical offices begin to reopen, will providers and patients return to an in-person model or continue to use digital methods?

Dr. Sapci predicts the shift to telemedicine will continue, leading to opportunities for professionals in a wide array of industries. To acquaint students with digital health and telemedicine and the career possibilities they offer, Dr. Sapci created a new course launching for Summer Session II: Introduction to Digital Health and m-Health (mobile health).

“This course will provide a fundamental understanding of digital health applications, wearables and mobile health platforms and will cover patient-centric, diagnostics-centric and R&D-centric digital solutions and digital health entrepreneurship,” he said.

No programming experience is required. The course is geared to students majoring in different fields, all of whom will acquire knowledge and skills to apply to their respective majors and future careers. “For example, graphic design majors might design wearable devices and graphical user interfaces for mobile applications,” Dr. Sapci explained, “and mathematics and computer science majors might develop algorithms for decision support systems. The opportunities are countless.”