Abison Logeswaran

At the beginning of my fellowship...

My main objectives were to start and then aim to complete a comprehensive toolkit that would guide the development and implementation of immersive technologies in healthcare education and training.

During my fellowship...

My knowledge and skills within digital health have developed immensely over the last year. I am currently a digital innovation representative at Moorfields which has enabled me to design and implement changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, I have helped evaluate the effectiveness and safety profile of A&E teleconsultation triage compared to face-to-face triage, which should be published soon. I have also had the opportunity to provide lectures on extended reality technologies at a range of places including the UCL masterclass series, an HEE thought leadership event and the ASPiH national simulation event. I have also been able to publish my narrative review on the role of extended reality technologies in healthcare, in addition to papers on EPR usability and teleconsultations. A significant part of my toolkit has been completed and is currently undergoing real-world testing and I look forward to completing it in the year following my fellowship. It will hopefully form part of a future NHS white paper looking at the role of extended reality technologies in the NHS, which is likely to be increasingly important in the post-pandemic era.

In this video Abison Logeswaran discusses his experience from his time as a Topol Fellow during which he evaluated immersive technology in medical education.

Lessons learned:

1. Protected time is critical. In the field of innovation, the phrase contextual ambidexterity is inherent in successful businesses. This enables the current practice to continue while enabling innovation for the future to flourish. The time that the Topol fellowship has afforded me has enabled me to explore my areas of passion, meet people from all walks of life and deliver tangible products which would not have been possible otherwise.
2. Networks. I have never spent more time talking and learning from people than I have during my fellowship. The vastness of knowledge and expertise in the field only becomes apparent from discussions. Every encounter is a potential learning opportunity. Every meeting is an opportunity to make life-long friends. Every discussion is a potential solution to a future problem. The single most important take-home from this fellowship is the importance of genuine discussion and sharing your passion for what you do.
3. Self-development. For many of us working in vocational professions, we are often told what to do, when to do it and where to do it. Having the luxury to manage my time, organise my schedules and achieve ambitious objectives were concepts slightly foreign to me. What became apparent was the importance of self-growth every day. This could range from learning a new fact, to completion of a lecture or to completion of a publication. The most important thing was to ensure that I was learning something new every day and contributing to my ultimate objective.