Medical science has evolved from a craft to a science. Therefore, engineers can help a health care system that is under pressure, according to Professor Jan Henrik Ardenkjær-Larsen.
By Søren Frandsen, Science Report
The Corona pandemic, an ageing population and a short-staffed health care system—partly due to illness, partly because there are not enough employees.
" The health care sector needs people who can work with new technologies and analyze the large amounts of data that are generated"
Jan Henrik Andenkjær-Larsen
– We won’t be able to hire or train our way out of all our demographical challenges. We need to address more fundamental, structural challenges and unresolved problems, Minister for Health Magnus Heunicke (S) said on 11 January according to TV2. The fact that the health care sector is under pressure is old news by now. According to DTU Professor Jan Henrik Ardenkjær-Larsen the solution might be a better and more developed collaboration between doctors and nursing staff on the one hand and engineers on the other.
– Over the years, medical science has evolved from a craft to more of an exact science. This is one of the reasons that the health care sector needs people who can work with new technologies and analyze the large amounts of data that are generated, Jan Henrik Ardenkjær-Larsen says to Science Report.
Appointed Head of Department at DTU
On Tuesday, Jan Henrik Ardenkjær-Larsen was officially named Head of Department at DTU Health Tech. An appointed which Ardenkjær-Larsen received with the following words:
”Engineers play a vital role in resolving the societal health burden. Demographic changes, a deeper understanding of diseases and increasing complexity create a need for sustainable, accessible and effective healthcare technologies. Our mission is to deliver on this!”
Jan Henrik Ardenkjær-Larsen has worked at DTU since 2015. Prior to that he was employed in the private sector by, among others, pharmaceutical manufacturer Nycomed and GE Healthcare.
A road through the data jungle
And now back to the health care sector’s transition from a craft to an exact science. Jan Henrik Ardenkjær-Larsen emphasizes that the vast majority of doctors in his opinion have an “amazing understanding” of the technology …
Read the rest of the article in Science Report (available in Danish only).