At RCPI Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Smiley Symposium, the focus shifts to how AI is transforming work
RCPI Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Smiley Symposium was held at No 6 Kildare Street on 15 November.
The symposium is held each year in honour of Dr James A. Smiley, Ireland's first industrial health specialist.
The first presentation was given by Dr Eoin O’Mahony (Higher Specialist Training in Occupational Medicine Trainee), who evaluated Cork University Hospital’s tuberculosis-screening pathway for healthcare workers. Dr O’Mahony found no known transmission of tuberculosis to healthcare workers, demonstrating the effectiveness of the screening process, but he questioned if the service is still required. “Are we actually mitigating any clinical risk by having a stand-alone tuberculosis pathway?” he said.
Dr Kirsten McGarry (Higher Specialist Training in Occupational Medicine Trainee, Dr Steevens’ Hospital) presented an audit they conducted at University Hospital Limerick and HSE Mid-west. Looking at referrals of non-consultant hospital doctors to the hospital’s occupational medicine service, Dr McGarry found that musculoskeletal issues were the most common reasons for doctor-referrals. The other most common issues were psychological, with Dr McGarry quoting research that the percentage of doctors citing burnout increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 77% to 90%. Dr McGarry pointed out that between 2018 and 2022, only 3.5% of referrals concerned non-consultant hospital doctors, and speculated if stigma surrounding mental health issues may have an influence on that low rate of referral.
The Smiley Lecture was given by Prof Ira Madan (occupational medicine consultant, Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust), and focused on how Artificial Intelligence was transforming work. “Occupational medicine will be transformed by AI because work will be transformed,” said Prof Madan.
“Generative AI is here to stay. When you get a technological revolution, history shows us it increases the global economy,” says Prof Madan. She gave examples of AI already being used in healthcare settings: the ergonomic benefits of surgery robotics; the use of pattern-recognition to identify conditions from x-rays; new personal protective equipment that monitors a healthcare environment’s air quality; wearables that monitor body temperature and fatigue syndromes; back-exoskeletons that provide extra lift to move patients.
Speculating on the future of work and its workers, Prof Madan referred to research relating to Generation Z – the first generation to grow up with computers. Gauging their attitudes to work, research showed a low percentage citing job security as a priority, while the importance of securing work-life balance was listed as the top priority.
Find out more about RCPI Faculty of Occupational Medicine.