AHI Blog

Posts from AHI students on Fordham's program, working in healthcare, and what is up and coming in Health Informatics.

Through the Looking Glass: One Student's Perspective on the Oxford Residency

By Matthew Sutfin

The bus from Heathrow Airport to Oxford is a surreal one: quotidian towns, gray highways, the errant farm or two, and then, a University that is twice as old as the United States and has the architecture to prove it. Suddenly, you realize that the opportunity of studying in Oxford isn't just a dream, but your reality. All you can do is soak it in, that is, until you decide to grab your bags and head to the Porters Lodge on Queen’s Lane to check in and get the show on the road.

Helmed by the esteemed program head Dr. John Chelsom, Fordham AHI’s State of the Art of Health Informatics class (ran concurrently with the Global Open Source EHR workshop and Annual Summit) hosted at St. Edmund (Teddy) Hall is a whirlwind week of engaging seminars, fascinating keynote speakers, and amazing opportunities to connect with fellow students, professors, and health informatics professionals. Projects will have you thinking critically about the nascent technologies emerging in the health informatics field. My team of four got the chance to create an artificially intelligent chatbot that could provide helpful and verified pharmaceutical and health informatics information to prospective users in the healthcare space. While a week isn't a terribly long time to study and develop, the network of experts available help facilitate the projects and ensure that you present your best work.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served daily and feature a rotating array of cuisines that accommodate various diets, and the formal dinners provide an opportunity to dress your best and experience the fine dining Oxford has to offer. The university is steeped in culture, both historic and modern, and the town itself is a wonderful place to explore and absorb, with any store or restaurant you could want. Sojourns to other colleges, such as Merton and Christchurch (Harry Potter fans might be interested in that one, if you know you know...), give the chance to see how other students enjoy the university, and the beautiful choral music and gothic architecture at various college chapels for Evensong are guaranteed to impress. Have a pint at the pub J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis chatted about their pantheonic novels, or study where countless Nobel Laureates made their discoveries! Now’s your chance!

Reflecting back, I am still amazed I was allowed the opportunity to study in Oxford. This school is history manifest, the most renowned in the world, and for good reason. However, beyond the thousand year old bricks that comprise the university walls and the weighty reputation diffused throughout them, the most rewarding part of the week was meeting other health informatics students and professors in the Fordham AHI program. It was a chance to connect with people from across the globe and be able to call them all new friends; a chance to share ideas and make memories, frequently at the dedicated college pub (imagine that in America!). I can only speak fondly about my time at Oxford, and eagerly look forward to any opportunities to return. 

Matthew Sutfin is a Masters student in Fordham's AHI program and a Medical Assistant for Optum Urgent Care.  He lives in Melville, N.Y.