Dora Takes on Japan at the ICMHI Conference
Dora’s Words
I had the opportunity to present at the 7th International Conference on Medical and Health Informatics (ICMHI)in Kyoto. This year's theme was: “The Future of Digital Health in the Post-Pandemic”, so my proof of concept on Predicting Patient non-attendances with the use of machine learning fit. Kyoto is a long way away and without Continuum's kind offer of travel subsidy, I probably would not have gone.
Our plane landed in Tokyo, so we had to take the fantastic bullet train to Kyoto. It is comfortable, quiet and clean - in fact, so comfortable and clean, that I am writing this blog on my return trip.
The conference was in the Kyoto Tower, which has an observatory at the top, offering breathtaking views of the city. On registration day, I went all the way to the top to see the sights and take pictures with their manga characters!
I got my conference kit and went to the hotel to rest and prep for the following day. An early start at 9 am, for a jet-lagged traveller, was happily mitigated by excitement and a giant coffee.
The keynote speakers were world-leading specialists with a plethora of degrees and years of experience and what stuck with me was a quote that went something like this: “The future of health is digital, or there will be no future at all”. The focus was, as expected, digital transformation and AI integration in healthcare processes.
There were parallel sessions throughout the day. Being slotted in at 5:24 pm, offered me a full day of running around, meeting people, seeing cool research stuff and talking about digitalization and AI. The more I watched presentations and chatted to people, the more I relaxed, even though two days before I was having a full-blown panic attack about presenting at this conference. Everyone was keen to showcase their findings and to learn more about other people’s research.
When lunchtime rolled around, we were given the cutest bento box for lunch. I almost didn’t want to eat it because it looked too pretty! Everything about it was delicious, from the bite-sized portions to the variety of flavours - all in a bento box! The drink was matcha green tea, which is very popular in Japan and was served in a little carton (like the kids’ apple juice cartons we get in the UK).
By the time my session rolled on, my nerves had subsided to a very manageable level and had been overtaken by excitement to present. I was going to stand up and showcase my project and represent Jersey in Japan, my university, my team, and my mentor, Continuum, - they had all invested in me and supported me in many ways. It was a great opportunity for us all and I wanted to do everyone proud!
I guess I did 😊 as I was awarded the best presentation certificate!!
Arigatoo Gozaimasu