Dissertation: Why is it so hard to think of a good topic?

The summer of 2017 is about to end, and for few more days, I will enroll Dissertation 1 at the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) for the Doctor in Information Technology (DIT) program. A common problem for every student enrolled in subjects such as capstone project, thesis and dissertation is to look for a good topic to focus. It becomes more difficult for us, as we have to consider a publishable topic. It is indeed true that looking for a problem really is a problem.

Though I still have no concrete direction as to what I intend to focus on my dissertation, few ideas catch my attention while I had an immersion at Southern Philippines Medical Center. I became interested in teledermatology as I was preparing my research a part of our requirement in our subject Industry Immersion. While doing my research on the said subject, about teledermatology, I learned that it was not a new method to deliver healthcare services to humanity most especially to those in remote, rural and underserved communities. Focusing on the challenges and lessons learned by countries who had engaged with teledermatology, one of the common issue cited was security and privacy of patient’s health records. With this, I became interested in looking into the details of what needs to be done to address the issue which I think would be a good topic for a dissertation. Another idea that came to my mind is to apply digital image processing on images taken, to provide initial diagnosis automatically for a dermatologist to validate. It became one of my interests as I discovered that the normal practice was to send images taken from the patient to the dermatologist for diagnosis. In so far as my readings, I have not seen such development or maybe it requires a more intensive search for me.

The other topic that I am also interested is about Internet of Things (IoT). The idea originated when I was doing my research for the subject IT Protection and Security. While digging the internet and reading published research journals and articles, “security” was the primary concern with this new technology. Secure network access, secure data communication, and identity management were among the major security concerns of IoT which I think will also be a good, publishable research topic.

Regardless on which particular topic I will be focusing on in the coming days, what is for sure is it would require me more readings. Though I have not decided yet on which area to consider, what is important as of this writing is I have something to search for which I am looking forward after submission of all the required deliverables for the subject Industry Immersion. I felt mixed emotions while I am about to enroll the subject Dissertation because I heard from my colleagues and friends that this is the most difficult part of earning a degree, in all aspects including financial.

My Last Day at Southern Philippines Medical Center...

Finally, it was my last day for my immersion at SPMC. Supposedly, I still have one week more to go, based on my mentor’s blueprint. However, because I was able to present my additional task completely, a request of mine was granted to shorten my schedule considering I still have other requirements to accomplish with TIP which is due on the first day of the following week.

The last day of my immersion started with a review of my draft capsule project proposal for teledermatology, following the same template used in the previous project. After having it reviewed, my mentor and I discussed in detail the parts of the document I have drafted. As I approached in the last few pages of my presentation, I asked my mentor if he has some comments and suggestions. “So far so good, please continue” was the statement I heard from him. A statement that was good to hear, so I continued my presentation until the last page. My mentor seemed to be very satisfied as he asked me to email the capsule proposal along with the other documents without modification. I felt happy that day, not only because I was able to accomplish my task according to his expectation, but instead, because while I was writing the capsule project proposal, another idea came to my mind regarding the potential topic for my dissertation, that was something related to teledermatology. Though I still have no specific area of teledermatology to consider, the good thing about this is I have something to think off. It has been common to all students taking up capstone project, thesis or dissertation subjects, that the biggest problem in thinking for a good topic was to look for a problem.

The day ended with a simple awarding of certificate of attendance for satisfactory completion of my immersion at Southern Philippines Medical Center from May 4, 2017, to May 22, 2017. The certificate was signed by my mentor and the head of IHOMP. It was a great learning experience being a part of a great support unit of Southern Philippines Medical Center.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH SPMC-IHOMP....

The Final Phase: Capsule Proposal Writing for Tele-Emergency Project...

Few more days and I am about to finish my industry immersion experience at SPMC. It was a great experience indeed, meeting new people and working with new tasks and in a new environment. After having gathered relevant documents and information from reliable sources on the internet last week, I started drafting the capsule project proposal and made use of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Form No. 1B intended for Capsule Research and Development Proposal. I first drafted the significance of the project and outlined the objectives, methodology, expected output and target beneficiaries. Major activities were also enumerated in chronological order using Gantt chart showing the tasks to be undertaken. I also prepared the estimated budget according to sources of funds following the sample template provided by my mentor and the work breakdown structure. In doing so, concepts in project management was considered carefully. After having completed the said capsule proposal, I reviewed it once again and sent it to my mentor’s email address for comments and suggestions.

My mentor reviewed my output, and we discussed it together, did some refinement particularly on the estimated budget and edited the document right away. I sent it back to my mentor’s email address for his final comments and suggestions. He appreciated my work and requested me if I can further help him in the other component of the Tele-Medicine project which is the Tele-Dermatology. Without hesitation, I accepted the task because I found the project interesting. As I started gathering data, my mentor told me that there were no existing documents yet as this project is soon to be implemented with a partner agency who as of this writing is still to be identified.

To have a full understanding of the concept of Tele-Dermatology, I immediately started digging the internet, browsed websites and downloaded some published research journals and articles. Again, I went reading……reading…..reading…..reading and understanding. Before the end of this week, I have gathered relevant information and started to conceptualize the Tele-Dermatology project, the SPMC way. It was a good week experience and hopefully on the remaining days of my immersion by next week, I will be able to submit the required documents to my mentor, and we could discuss it for refinement, the same manner on what we did in the Tele-Emergency project. I considered a frequent discussion with my mentor a good experience as I have been learning from his words and insights.

My Tele-Medicine Concept Encounter...

This week, May 8 to May 12 of 2017, started with a discussion about the Mentor’s Blueprint I have drafted concerning what we have discussed the previous week. There were few refinements done, and my mentor’s approval was then sought. This was followed by mini-tour on their other IT infrastructure and the detailed presentation of the Tele-Medicine Project.

Tele-Medicine is a doctor-on-demand, anytime, and anywhere project of SPMC that integrates medicine, IT and communication in partnership with other government hospitals. In the presentation, four (4) components of the project were mentioned, and these were Tele-Radiology, Tele-Psychiatry, Tele-Emergency and Tele-Dermatology. The first two (2) components were up and running and are a partnership with Amai Pakpak Medical Center in Marawi and Pangutaran District Hospital in Sulu for Tele-Radiology and Borja Hospital in Cagayan De Oro for Tele-Psychiatry respectively. Tele-Emergency, on the other hand, is a project component in partnership with the Central 911 of Davao City whereas Tele-Dermatology’s recipient is about to be determined and announced in the future. Though Tele-Emergency had already been conceptualized and few discussions had been initiated by the partner agencies, the capsule research and development proposal were not yet documented due to lack of personnel to focus on the task in IHOMP. To speed up the preparation of the documents required, my deliverables considering the limited number of weeks for this immersion was outlined.

I started to gather available documents which made my days easy as Engr. Candelaria provided it for me to review and familiarize.  I further dig the internet and read some published journals, articles and websites to have a good grasp of the concept of Tele-Emergency as well as to understand some medical terminologies. This week was focused on knowledge searching about the Tele-Emergency Project. Moreover, project management concepts were also reviewed as drafting capsule research, and development proposal entails an understanding of how a project should be planned and handled. It was just good that I had an experienced project manager mentor who had a broad knowledge of project management and had managed several international projects. His expertise had helped widen my understanding of related project management concepts. In other words, this week was full of reading, understanding ……….. reading, and understanding.

My First Week at Southern Philippines Medical Center for Immersion...

May 4, 2017, marked my first day at Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) for my Industry Immersion. This is in relation with the Technological Institute of the Philippines’ (TIP) requirement for the Doctor of Information Technology program. For TIP, industry immersion is a vital and indispensable component of graduate education. Through immersion, we, the students, will be able to acquire valuable exposure on the latest technology and processes in leading industries to validate the theoretical perspective thought on classrooms.

In my first few days in SPMC being around from 8:00 am to at most 5:00 pm, it all started with an acquaintance meeting with the people from Integrated Hospital Operations and Management Program (IHOMP), where I was assigned, headed by Mr. Johann Manalang. I also had the opportunity to talk with Engr. Gregorio R. Candelario Jr., the System and Software Development section head of IHOMP, and of course with the Medical Center Chief itself, Dr. Leopoldo J. Vega. It was a fruitful meeting indeed, and I was fascinated with the characters of the people behind the success of SPMC.

The meeting was then followed by an orientation on SPMC’s Vision, Mission, Core Values and policies on the conduct of immersion program. Engr. Candelario also presented SPMC’s hardware infrastructure, software capability, various on-going and future projects and SPMC’s best practices. This was then followed by a tour around the IHOMP infrastructure, particularly at their data center. It was a great opportunity for me to have the chance to be working around in a hospital with the most advanced healthcare information technology data center that enables it to manage its health services efficiently and the first hospital to achieve full digital maturity concerning Hospital Information Systems. Seeing all these in my first few days made me feel jubilant and excited, as I know it will be a great experience ahead of me.

Before the week ended, Mr. Manalang and Engr. Candelario discussed the possible deliverables they expect from me. Thus we sat down and had a talk regarding my Mentor’s Blueprint, one of our requirement in TIP. We agreed that I would have a draft of my Mentor’s Blueprint based on what we have discussed. After having it drafted, I immediately emailed it to Engr. Candelario for comments and suggestions.