WILLIAM-YEUNG

Western Pacific

My name is Will. I’m from Australia. I speak English, Cantonese. Talk to me about Mental Health, Medical Ethics, Bipartisanship.

I spend most of my days reading and writing long-form articles on everything from public policy to science, health, education and ethics, as well as having lengthy discussions about them with my phenomenally patient friends. I am an avid advocate for youth mental health, with extensive experience promoting youth wellbeing at the local/grassroots, national and global levels, having worked alongside organizations such as the Black Dog Institute, PMNCH, WEF and WHO. As a former researcher and current medical student, I have a particular interest in research practices, populational health and evidence based medicine, and find myself constantly fascinated by the ways in which the smallest of things that can radically change how entire health systems operate.

Rather than entering the digital health space through a singular door, I found my way to it in bits and pieces by being constantly exposed to all the ways in which technology is already being used to augment health systems globally – whether that’s in the form of apps that consumers use to track their diet, sleep and exercise, the servers that maintain hospital patient records, or sites like Mayo Clinic, Medscape or WebMD which more and more people are using to access health information for the first time, often before speaking to healthcare workers. As someone within the healthcare system, I struggle to imagine what my world (or work-life) would look like without the innovations brought about through digital health, and I’m excited for a richer, more diverse discussion around the costs and benefits that tech can bring to the way we care for one another.

You’d be surprised to know that despite being generally fond of tech, I’ve never used Spotify. There’s just something nice about having all your music on hand, so you’re never without your albums even if you can’t find an internet connection. For that reason, I also don’t go anywhere without my headphones. Sometimes it’s just about finding the right tool for the job, one that you can trust.