MEDamorphosis Podcast · UBC Medicine Learning Network

S6 E3: AI in Medicine Series - Dr. Kendall Ho

·46 min·3 clips

Ho says physicians who use AI will replace physicians who do not.

Dr. Kendall Ho appears on the UBC Medicine Learning Network as a seasoned emergency physician and digital healthcare leader. He opens with his background, including his move from Hong Kong to Vancouver as a teenager. He also talks about being a son, husband, father, and, since about nine months ago, a grandfather. The conversation stays personal before widening into his professional work. He describes how his role has involved shaping e-health strategy. He also mentions collaborating with the World Health Organization. A central theme is technology-enabled knowledge translation. He frames that work as using information technologies to bring the latest health evidence into routine practice. The discussion then moves toward virtual care and virtual services. He and the interviewer talk through what triage looks like in an emergency department. He then asks what happens when the emergency begins at home instead of in hospital. The examples are familiar and immediate. A person wakes at 3 a.m. with chest pain and wonders whether it matters. A new parent faces fever and vomiting in a four-month-old on a Friday night and has to decide whether to wait or seek emergency care. Those situations are used to show the limits of hindsight. Statistics can tell you later that many emergency visits might not have been necessary. But a person in the moment has to decide prospectively, without medical training. The episode uses that tension to explain why virtual triage matters. It also points to the long-running 811 model, where nurses are available to help people sort out what level of care they need. Dr. Ho’s perspective keeps returning to access, judgment, and the reality of making decisions under uncertainty. He does not present AI as a replacement for care. Instead, he treats it as part of a larger system that still depends on people, context, and careful follow-up. The closing turn is hopeful but measured. He talks about learning from other professions, including data science and AI, and suggests medicine improves when it stays open to outside ideas. The episode finishes with confidence that patient care can keep getting better.

As heard by us

A grounded look at AI in healthcare that stays close to emergency decisions and routine practice.

Dr. Kendall Ho treats AI in healthcare as a practical tool, not a slogan. The strongest parts are the examples that stay close to real emergency decisions, like chest pain at 3 a.m. and a four-month-old with fever and vomiting on a Friday night.

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Why you'd press play

A grounded look at AI in healthcare through emergency triage, e-health strategy, and knowledge translation.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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