Timothy Craig Allen, MD, JD, FCAP, FASCP, is a Professor within the Department of Pathology as well as the Director of Anatomic and Surgical Pathology at The University of Texas Medical Branch.
On May 11th, Dr. Timothy Craig Allen will present at Becker's Health IT + Clinical Leadership 2018. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place May 10-11th 2018 in Chicago.
To learn more about the conference and Dr. Allen's session, click here.
Question: How do you define patient engagement?
Dr. Timothy Craig Allen: Patient engagement can take many forms. Patients and families who query their doctors about their diagnoses, prognoses and therapies are engaged. Patients and families who involve themselves in social media for their own benefit and the benefit of other, similarly situated patients and families, are engaged. Patients and families who involve themselves in patient advocacy groups and in the discourse of medical societies and lectures are engaged.
Q: As a leader, what is the best investment you made in your own professional development in the past five years?
TCA: My best investment in my professional development in the last five years has unquestionably been my focus on teaching. Medical students and residents are our future. Particularly as our understanding of molecular medicine and immunotherapy continue to grow in a manner unprecedented in history, it is incumbent upon us to ensure our trainees are well-prepared to treat and educate our patients for the betterment of their health, both now and in the future.
Q: How do you see the barrier between competitors and collaborators changing?
TCA: The barriers are falling fast. Academics, medical societies and industry players are working in appropriate ways to investigate, develop and properly manage the use of molecular diagnostic biomarker tests and molecular therapies, and immunomarkers and immunotherapies. Appropriate conflict of interest safeguards are being instituted and collaborations are underway to utilize our ever-growing medical understanding, to rapidly develop and test the safety and efficacy of the resulting new therapies and to provide those therapies to our patients.