The Vernon Collins Oration was established in 1981, in memory of Professor Vernon Collins, the first Medical Director of The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), Melbourne. He held this position from 1949 to 1960 and then became the Professor of Child Health in the University of Melbourne, before retiring in 1974.

This year’s oration is titled “Digital Dynamite: Technology is blowing up healthcare as we know it”.

The last decade has seen a dramatic explosion in digital innovation across healthcare and the pace is only accelerating. “AI” may be the buzzword, but it’s only one of several disruptive shifts underway.

In this talk, Mike will look back at transformative digital changes of the past 10 years, explores what’s on the horizon, and considers how we might help shape the future of healthcare technology to benefit both patients and the people looking after them. Along the way, he’ll ask how our roles as clinicians might need to evolve in the new digital world.

Professor Mike South is a paediatrician and Chief Medical Information Officer at The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, and a Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

For over two decades, he’s worked at the intersection of clinical care and digital health, trying to help technology live up to its promises: improving patient care, supporting families, and making life easier for clinicians. He helped lead the rollout of electronic medical records (EMR) across the Parkville Precinct and has advised on EMR transformations in hospitals across the ACT, NSW, Ireland, and the UK. He remains equal parts thrilled and mildly terrified about what the next decade of digital health might bring.