The Stanford Medicine Health Trends Report 2020 has been released this month. The research survey had more than 700 physicians, residents and medical students respond.
Among the respondents, 47% of physicians and 73% of medical students said that they are currently seeking out additional training to prepare for these kinds of data and digital health innovations. Advanced statistics and data science (44%) and population health management (36%) courses were among the most sought out by medical students taking additional classes, while genetic counseling (38%) and artificial intelligence (34%) won out among physicians.
Alternative data sources such as wearables and health tracking apps were also on the minds of these respondents. Nearly half of the survey’s physicians (44%) residents (50%) and students (47%) said they actively use a health monitoring device themselves, and more often than not said that they incorporate these data into their own personal healthcare decisions.
Even more students and physicians said that they would consider data from health apps (78%, 80%), wearables (79%, 83%) and consumer genetic tests (63%, 65%) to be at least somewhat clinically valuable.
With all that being said, a fair portion of these respondents did not feel like their current or prior medical education effectively prepared them for the implementation of these types of technologies. Specifically, 23% of students said their education was either “not very helpful” or “not helpful at all,” with only 18% reporting their teachings to be “very helpful” in regard to these tools. Those same response rates for practicing physicians were 44% and 19%, respectively.Stanford Medicine Health Trends Report 2020.pdf (5.65 MB)