The world is in desperate need of health professionals who think differently and possess the leadership skills to improve local, national and global health and well-being.
The Master of Healthcare Innovations is designed to meet the needs of a diverse cohort of health professionals, administrators and change makers, who want to innovate, influence and improve our health systems.Â
After completing a Bachelor of Medical Science at another university, Emilie Derrington secured an administrative role at a small medical clinic in Brisbane. She then made the decision to start a Master of Healthcare Innovations at Bond.
As one of our first-ever Healthcare Innovations students, we sat down with Emilie to learn why she finds healthcare innovations so interesting, what her goals are, and how the program has equipped her for her future career.
My long-term goal is to own my own medical clinic.
I thought the program would be very valuable for me to do pre-med and it would also help me in my current role at a small medical clinic.
I spoke to a number of doctors in Brisbane and they were very supportive of Bond and the Bond Medical School. I came to Open Day and really liked the people, the programs and thought Bond would suit me. The accelerated programs Bond offers was a bonus.
I have really enjoyed the program.
It has opened my eyes to what is currently going on in the health sector and I have been introduced to topics and issues that were completely novel to me. Learning about overdiagnosis and overtreatment directly from the experts at the Institute for Evidence-Based Healthcare was absolutely fascinating. Now that I’m aware of these issues – I see them everywhere.
The Master of Healthcare Innovations has helped me to question things and become a more critical thinker. It has already enhanced my research and presentation skills and I can see that what I’ve learned about managing people, entrepreneurship and innovation will be incredibly useful for helping me achieve my career aspirations in the years to come.
I am able to apply what I’m learning to my current role as an administrator in a medical practice.
For example, as a result of what I had learned about overdiagnosis, I created a shared decision-making tool for my practice, to help our specialist doctor discuss with her patients whether, and when, a hysterectomy was the right decision for them. This tool will help her to explain to patients what their options are and ensure they make informed decisions, as well as making the decision-making process more transparent and efficient.
Through my capstone experience I learnt a lot about communication in a professional environment and what a real research project looks like when you are in charge.
It was exciting - starting my own project from scratch, liaising with the business owner, conducting the academic research, encountering obstacles and overcoming them. Not everything went to plan, but my lecturer was there with me every step of the way to guide me and help me. The project gave me a lot to reflect on and taught how to translate and communicate my research findings into tangible, actionable benefits for my client.
One very important thing about Bond is the people you meet and how generous they are with sharing their time and their networks.
At my first Intensive, for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, one of my cohort heard me speak about my aspirations and introduced me to her husband the Head of Neonatal Care at a major hospital. We met and had an amazing discussion and I received a guided tour of the hospital.
Innovation is talked about a lot in medicine – in surgical techniques, medical advice and advances in science – but not always innovation in terms of the practice and business of healthcare. Â
You can be a great doctor, but a terrible business person, so it is incredibly useful to understand and consider things like how healthcare policy is formed and how a medical practice is run from a business perspective. Â
Through this program I learned the value of innovation and what it really means. It has made me optimistic about my future by not just understanding issues and being able to identify them, but how to change and improve business processes and how medicine works in practice.
Healthcare Innovations at Bond
Explore the range of healthcare innovations programs at Bond University.