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  2. MEDICUS
  3. 2025 Issue 3
  4. Anatomy of innovation: teaching with purpose
About the masthead: Telocytes: gut cells that talk like neurons — read more here
Podcast

Anatomy of innovation: teaching with purpose

Can VR headsets, 3D models and digital cadavers make better doctors? Professor Fernando Bello, head of Duke-NUS’ Technology Enhanced Learning and Innovation (TELI), takes us behind the scenes of how his team is reshaping medical education—one innovation at a time.

By Brandon Raeburn, Media and Content Specialist

Prof Fernando Bello (left) joined MEDICUS — the Podcast to explore how technology-enhanced learning is transforming medical education at Duke-NUS.

From virtual reality to 3D-printed tonsils and spines and even digitised human cadavers, the classroom of tomorrow is already here at Duke-NUS. But beyond the cool factor, how do these tools and innovations actually help medical students learn—and how does one decide what tech belongs in the curriculum?

In this episode, Professor Fernando Bello shares how his TELI team brings these education-enhancing innovations into the medical classroom. He discusses how educators are being equipped to integrate tech purposefully, what makes a tool truly valuable for learning and whether technology is medicine’s greatest friend or its next big risk.

Highlights from the conversation include:

  • Why medical education needs more than chalkboards, and how technology is changing that
  • How the TELI team chooses what belongs in the classroom (and what doesn’t) to avoid chasing the latest shiny tools and gadgets
  • What it takes to teach educators to integrate tech into their classes and how that ripples back to the students
  • The big question: Should we embrace technology or be cautious of it?

Hear from Fernando and check out our previous episodes: 

 

Show Credits – Episode 16:
Hosted by: Brandon Raeburn
Production Team: Brandon Raeburn, Daryl Li, Sean Firoz and Anirudh Sharma

You can also listen to MEDICUS - the Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

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