Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Education
Reading aloud has many benefits
Excerpts from article by By Sophie Hardach, published in BBC Future
Today, silent reading is the norm. The majority of us bottle the words in our heads as if sitting in the hushed confines of a library. Reading out loud is largely reserved for bedtime stories and performances.
A growing body of research suggests that we may be missing out by reading only with the voices inside our minds. The art of reading aloud has a number of benefits – from helping improve our memories and understanding of complex texts to strengthening emotional bonds between people.
Memory-boosting effect
Colin MacLeod, a psychologist at the University of Waterloo in Canada, has extensively researched the impact of reading aloud on memory. He and his collaborators have shown that people consistently remember words and texts better if they read them aloud than if they read them silently. This memory-boosting effect of reading aloud is particularly strong in children.
Even just silently mouthing the words makes them more memorable, though to a lesser extent. Researchers at Ariel University in the occupied West Bank discovered that the memory-enhancing effect also works if the readers have speech difficulties, and cannot fully articulate the words they read aloud.
Listening to others read aloud
Listening to someone else read can benefit memory in other ways. In a study led by researchers at the University of Perugia in Italy, students read extracts from novels to a group of elderly people with dementia over a total of 60 sessions. The listeners performed better in memory tests after the sessions than before. “It seems that actively listening to a story leads to more intense and deeper information processing,” the researchers concluded.
Can be helpful in detecting Alzheimer’s
Reading aloud can also make certain memory problems more obvious, and could be helpful in detecting such issues early on. In one study, people with early Alzheimer’s disease were found to be more likely than others to make certain errors when reading aloud.
Sam Duncan, an adult literacy researcher at University College London, conducted a two-year study of more than 500 people all over Britain during 2017-2019 to find out if, when and how they read aloud. Often, her participants would start out by saying they didn’t read aloud – but then realised that actually, they did.
Some said they read out funny emails or messages to entertain others. Others read aloud prayers and blessings for spiritual reasons. Writers and translators read drafts to themselves to hear the rhythm and flow. People also read aloud to make sense of recipes, contracts and densely written texts.
“Some find it helps them unpack complicated, difficult texts. Maybe it’s about slowing down, saying it and hearing it,” Duncan says.
Career
These 5 careers could be the future of healthcare
Excerpts from article by Morris Panner, published in Entrepreneur India
Healthcare once brought to mind disciplines like anatomy, biology and pharmaceutical medicine. Now the field is a different landscape, with artificial intelligence, genomics and big data dominating discussions. Technology is changing healthcare. Here are some of the most exciting specialty areas for healthcare careers in 2021 and beyond:
1. Personalised medicine
Historically, medicines haven’t been developed with the individual in mind. A majority of trial participants would have to find a pharmaceutical drug effective before a doctor prescribes that drug in the hopes a patient would benefit too.
Precision medicine, or alternatively personalised medicine, is a growing area of healthcare that demands different kinds of expertise. Bio-informaticians are needed to analyse genome data, while genetic counsellors work with patients to examine their genetic history and advise them on procedures.
2. Imaging-based screening
Medical professionals wear many hats, and specialties often blend with one another. For example, imaging is a key part of a doctor’s toolkit and routinely diagnoses and treats disease, yet radiologists are in large part left out of the decision-making process. Some radiologists suggest their profession would benefit from the creation of screening radiologists. This sub-specialty combines expertise in both imaging and screening science, which could bring their perspectives and technical expertise to the screening process.
3. Health data science
Big data is driving innovation in just about every corner imaginable, and healthcare is no exception. Health data is everywhere, from medical records and published research to adverse event databases and health department reports. This data often exists in various silos and is bound by privacy protections, making its retrieval a complicated endeavour. Data scientists are in growing popularity in the field of healthcare too.
4. AI and machine learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques make it possible to do extraordinary things with data. In pharmaceutical research and development, for instance, researchers are learning how to accelerate the discovery of new medications by using machine learning to automate otherwise time-consuming processes. In radiology, new AI programs can automatically analyse images to improve a specialist’s workflow and help prioritise patients who need immediate attention.
5. Virtual reality and robotics
People may not associate virtual reality and robotics with healthcare, but the two areas have potential for significant applications in the field. Virtual reality (VR) is proving to be extremely valuable for training medical students and assisting surgeons in preparing for procedures. Meanwhile, people are using robotics in ways that can range from greeting patients to transporting them.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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