Former medical officer to UK Parliament giving Faculty of Occupational Medicine’s Smiley Lecture

Prof Ira Madan will talk about the role of Artificial Intelligence in occupational medicine at the upcoming Smiley Symposium on 15 November. The symposium, named in honour of Ireland’s first industrial health specialist Dr James A. Smiley, is a key meeting in the college year for RCPI’s Faculty of Occupational Medicine.

An occupational medicine consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, Prof Madan has over 25 years’ experience in the specialty. For a majority of that period, she was contracted to the UK Houses of Parliament.

“The basement of the Palace of Westminster is full of workshops: everything from carpentry to metal working, and clock repairs. The workshops are physically old, many are inherently hazardous, and are serviced by dedicated craftsman who were only interested in their trade, not in their health,” says Prof Madan.

“Working with members of the upper and lower houses was an honour. It took some time to gain their trust, but once that was established, I was able to influence at a senior level,” she says.

Now turning her attention to developments in computer science, her lecture is titled “Redefining work: transforming occupational medicine in the age of Artificial Intelligence.” We caught up with Prof Madan in advance of the symposium to learn more about her career and work.

You are a consultant in occupational medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust in London. Can you give us a sense of your role and the work involved?

I have been in this post for over 25 years and my role has been varied, interesting and rewarding.

For 23 years, I was contracted to the Houses of Parliament, and was their chief medical officer. It was an immense privilege to work there, and it and was a challenge from an occupational medicine point of view. The basement of the Palace of Westminster is full of workshops: everything from carpentry to metal working, and clock repairs. The workshops are physically old, many are inherently hazardous, and are serviced by dedicated craftsman who were only interested in their trade, not in their health. Working with Members of the Upper and Lower Houses was an honour. It took some time to gain their trust, but once that was established, I was able to influence at a senior level. And I met five Prime Ministers.

Aside from my work at Parliament, I was seconded to the Department of Health on a part-time basis from 2002-2010. It was an exciting time to be working in the Health and Work team there as Dame Carol Black was shaking things up in Government; her report ‘ Working for a Healthier Tomorrow”  was published in 2008.

I have an academic contract with King’s College London. I have had a career-long interest in building the evidence base for clinical occupational medicine and my research has been driven by my desire to try and fill some of the huge gaps in the evidence for what we do.

Your lecture is titled “Redefining work: transforming occupational medicine in the age of Artificial Intelligence.” What was your starting point for this research?

I used generative AI apps, of course. First ChatGPT, and then Claude. They were only partially helpful, and I reverted to doing a standard literature search. I also spoke to experts in the field.

I imagine your own perspective is filtered through your specialty of occupational medicine. Where did the passion to pursue that specialty come from?

Unusually for most occupational physicians, my interest was sparked by a lecture on occupational medicine at medical school. I liked the idea of preventing illness and doing something a bit different from mainstream medicine.

How important is artificial intelligence in occupational medicine today and why?

You will need to listen to my talk. It is here to stay and will augment what all healthcare professionals do. It is changing the world of work, both the type of jobs available and how they are done.  Occupational physicians need to adapt to those changes and embrace the opportunities that AI offers.