It doesn’t matter what field of medicine you work in or what kind of medical position you’re looking for on s1jobs, the chances are you’ll come across the developments rapidly changing the way illnesses are diagnosed and treated.
All the technology that goes into making your smartphone and computer is now finding its way into the medical field.
Although there’s no chance yet you’ll be replaced by a holograph – that’s one for the Trekkies – there’s no doubt devices, software and all kinds of gadgets will transform the way in which you treat patients.
Scotland is no stranger to new medical treatments. We’re home to the Scottish Translational Medicine and Therapeutics Initiative, a collaboration between four of the country’s university medical departments looking at the latest discoveries in the field of biological sciences and formulating ways of developing these to treat diseases.
Other discoveries are being made around the world, including in the US where surgeons have just been given the go-ahead to use bioabsorbable stents.
Inserting stents into patients to clear blockages in the coronary arteries is one of the most common procedures carried out by heart surgeons, but while these solve the immediate problem their permanent position in the body can lead to future complications.
Now stents that dissolve after two years are available, solving a long-term problem.
And surgeons of all disciplines are set to be helped with the development of 3D visualisation and augmented reality.
By wearing a pair of silly-looking goggles, they’ll no longer have to spend hours with their heads bent, straining their necks and eyesight to carry out delicate, life-saving work.
Instead they’ll be free to stand up straight and yet have a much clearer picture of the area in which they are working.
Of course most problems arise not in surgery or indeed hospitals but while patients are at home.
That’s why a smart watch that helps detect sleep apnoea is a welcome development in the treatment of a troublesome and potentially serious condition.
Other devices will allow patients to take their own readings and for the findings to be shared over the internet with medical practitioners, making trips to the surgery redundant and helping to treat people living in remote locations.
Meanwhile blood tests have increased in sensitivity and soon doctors will be able to perform ‘liquid biopsies’ using a simple blood sample instead of a surgical procedure to detect the presence of cancer in the body.
If you’d like to join this brave new world of medicine, check out the Medical vacancies on s1jobs.