1. As Southeast Asia rapidly embraces AI and robotics in healthcare, what do you see as the most pressing skills gap among medical professionals today?

Southeast Asia’s healthcare professionals are passionate and adaptable, but the pace of technological innovation is extraordinary, outpacing traditional training pathways. While AI and robotics can address workforce shortages through greater efficiency and precision, realising this depends on the digital and technological fluency of healthcare professionals. Medical professionals need practical, hands-on training to confidently integrate these innovations into patient care that goes beyond just understanding the technologies. As industry partners, it is important to bridge this gap through immersive and ongoing training and education, empowering HCPs to deliver safer and more effective care for patients.

2. How does Medtronic assess the readiness of Southeast Asia’s healthcare workforce to adapt to digital health technologies?

Southeast Asia shows strong interest in digital health adoption, but readiness varies across the region. Due to its highly heterogenous landscape, the region faces unique challenges such as uneven infrastructure in urban and rural areas, and diverse healthcare needs. As such, Medtronic addresses this through tailored strategies – improving accessibility in underserved markets and enhancing technology and outcomes in more developed markets. We work closely with local hospitals and healthcare professionals to unlock potential across Southeast Asia, ensuring more patients across the communities that we operate in benefit from our innovative technologies. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and success requires a nuanced understanding of each market’s specific barriers and capabilities.

3. In your view, what are the key factors preventing healthcare institutions from keeping pace with the technological transformation occurring in the industry?

Adopting new technologies requires institutions to dedicate more resources to workforce development and a workflow redesign. However, healthcare institutions struggle with three core constraints: limited training infrastructure, restricted financial resources and staff availability for upskilling. These challenges intensify in rural areas where institutions face compounded barriers of accessibility and infrastructure gaps. This results in a widening disparity between what is technologically possible and what healthcare systems can realistically implement.

4. Education-led initiatives are often seen as long-term solutions. How can such programs be accelerated to meet the immediate workforce demands in digital health?

Public–private partnerships is one key approach that can help accelerate education by pooling expertise and resources tailored to the evolving needs of the market’s healthcare landscape. Additionally, advanced simulation technologies and dedicated training facilities provide crucial hands-on experience for adoption of new technologies. Medtronic’s Robotics Experience Studio as well as Innovation Centers exemplify this approach, supporting skill enhancement across both APAC and Southeast Asia through training modules with advanced simulators. These immersive learning environments allow healthcare professionals to build proficiency without traditional barriers such as limited access to equipment. 

5. Can you elaborate on the type of localised training programs that have proven most effective in bridging the skills gap in Southeast Asian healthcare systems?

We’ve seen real success with sustainable, hands-on training rather than one-off sessions. Our first Brain and Spine Cadaveric Training Center with Cardinal Santos Medical Center in the Philippines demonstrates how we’re shifting towards localising ongoing education. As a center of excellence, surgeons across the region now have regular opportunities for hands-on cadaveric training at a specialised facility. Similarly, our Robotics Experience Studio in Singapore provides immersive training on robotic-assisted surgical technologies. By advancing accessibility to comprehensive educational modules, it closes the knowledge and skills gap through consistent practice.

6. How important is cultural and regional context when designing technology-training modules for healthcare professionals in Southeast Asia?

It is absolutely critical. Different countries face different disease burdens, have varying levels of hospital infrastructure and operate under distinct healthcare systems. As such. We have to adapt our programs accordingly – what works in a developed city like Singapore will need to be adapted for hospitals in other Southeast Asia countries due to differences in hospital infrastructure set-up and healthcare affordability. Training needs to resonate with local healthcare professionals and be delivered in a familiar context. Programs that incorporate local disease burdens and workflow realities will ensure the training translates into improved patient outcomes.

7. What role do you see strategic partnerships – between industry, academia, and governments – playing in upskilling the healthcare workforce?

These private-public partnerships are definitely essential in addressing the skills gap and in driving towards universal healthcare across Southeast Asia. Industry brings technological expertise and training infrastructure. Academia provides educational frameworks and research. Governments enable scalability through policy and funding. We've seen this work through our collaborations with notable healthcare societies and organisations such as Singhealth, Asia Pacific Hernia Society and Malaysian Society of Colorectal Surgeons, just to name a few. These multi-stakeholder efforts share knowledge, build capabilities, and accelerate innovation.

8. With AI and robotics becoming integral to clinical workflows, how can healthcare leaders ensure that technology adoption enhances rather than replaces human expertise?

AI and robotics excel at precision, consistency and handling repetitive tasks, freeing clinicians to focus on complex decision-making and patient interaction. The key is thoughtful integration. These technologies process continuous data and identify patterns to individualise treatment plans, while healthcare professionals provide the judgment and human-centred care that technology cannot replicate. When integrated properly, AI amplifies their capabilities rather than replacing them. The goal is to better patient outcomes through enhanced expertise.

9. How can medical device companies like Medtronic balance innovation with the ethical responsibility of ensuring practitioners are fully equipped to use these tools safely?

Safety and responsible use are non-negotiable, especially as AI and technology become more prevalent in healthcare. We rigorously test products to ensure safety and eliminate biases before launch. This includes extensive troubleshooting before launch and ongoing security measures.

However, product safety is only half the equation. We also invest heavily in training infrastructure to ensure healthcare professionals receive the necessary hands-on experience and education to use these tools confidently and safely to apply them in real-life situations.

10. Could you share an example of a successful collaboration or pilot program in Southeast Asia that has helped accelerate digital healthcare adoption through skill development?

The Medtronic Customer Experience Center, opened in 2022, exemplifies how we are accelerating regional training at scale. This facility uses extended reality, augmented and virtual realities, and robotics to create immersive learning experiences, allowing healthcare professionals to engage with the latest medical devices remotely. In 2024, we expanded this with the Robotics Experience Studio, specifically designed to accelerate the adoption of Robotics and AI by providing cutting-edge resources for clinicians to hone their skills in robotic-assisted procedures and AI applications.

By centralising knowledge-sharing resources and capability-building, Medtronic Southeast Asia has initiated more than 900 programs to train more than 30,000 healthcare professionals over the past 3 years.

11. Beyond technical training, what soft skills or interdisciplinary competencies do you think healthcare professionals will need to thrive in a tech-driven future?

Data literacy and adaptability top the list. When healthcare professionals understand how to interpret AI outputs and integrate innovations into their workflows, they are far more confident in adopting new technologies. These soft skills will transform how healthcare professionals embrace a tech-driven healthcare landscape, enabling them to leverage innovation to improve patient outcomes.

12. How is Medtronic leveraging data and feedback from hospitals or practitioners to refine its training and educational outreach efforts?

We work closely with partners, actively gathering feedback to improve our training programs. We are adapting and adopting the use of AI-assisted surgical recordings and data to track surgeon performance and identify training gaps and workflow challenges to tailor programs that will help improve outcomes. This data-driven approach means we can refine training based on measurable results rather than assumptions. The ability to gather real-time data and translate it into targeted education modules ensures our training delivers tangible improvements that clinicians can apply immediately in the operating room.

13. Looking ahead, what policies or systemic reforms are needed to create a sustainable talent pipeline capable of supporting the next generation of healthcare innovations?

Continuous professional education and infrastructure investment are critical for building a sustainable talent pipeline. Policies that support healthcare providers in prioritising upskilling will accelerate technology adoption among practitioners. Regulatory frameworks enabling innovation are equally vital. When governments create environments supporting both workforce development and innovation ecosystems, they establish foundations for long-term healthcare transformation that benefits entire regions.

14. Finally, how do you envision the ideal future healthcare ecosystem in Southeast Asia - one where technology and human expertise coexist seamlessly?

The healthcare ecosystem across Asia is at a pivotal juncture, navigating a dynamic landscape characterised by rapid demographic shifts, rising burden of chronic diseases, and complex macro forces, including increasing cost pressures and a shortage of healthcare professionals. Yet, we’re in a golden age of technology, where transformative discoveries and digital innovations offer unprecedented opportunities to rewrite the narrative of patient care.

The ideal ecosystem goes beyond technology and human expertise simply coexisting – it’s one where they actively build on each other. Technology should amplify healthcare capabilities to improve outcomes while empowering professionals to address complex challenges more effectively. This ecosystem is resilient and future-ready, ensuring healthcare professionals have access to world-class education regardless of location. By partnering closely with government and healthcare organisations, we can be part of the overall solution to making quality healthcare truly accessible.

--AHHM Issue 71--