Morgan Gilmour Named Winner of First Biannual BitIRA U Scholarship
BURBANK, Calif. (PRWEB) July 17, 2018 -- BitIRA is proud to announce the winner of its Summer 2018 BitIRA U Scholarship. The program recognizes and awards students for their ability to realize and express forward-thinking ideas on the future of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
Morgan Gilmour was awarded a $1,000 scholarship for his personal essay, which compared the current environment of electronic medical records (EMRs) to a vision of 20 years in the future, where a clinic could easily access EMRs from a shared blockchain. Such a capability would reduce time wasted on administrative tasks and increase the amount of time and resources spent caring for and reassuring patients.
Gilmour is an M.D. candidate at the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
"We received an overwhelming number of excellent submissions this semester, so it was not easy for us to narrow down the field to one winner," said BitIRA Director of Strategic Planning Andy Klein.
"Ultimately, it was Morgan's personal connection to his essay that helped propel him to the top. However, if the quality of many of our applications is any indication, we can expect to see great things from these extraordinary students as they begin their careers."
The BitIRA U Scholarship, awarded every summer and winter, is open to all students who meet the following criteria:
- Seniors in high school or college students enrolled at an U.S. accredited institution of higher learning.
- In good academic standing at current institution.
- Minimum cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher.
"In today's healthcare setting, doctors' time is crushed under the weight of administrative tasks, medical errors take the life of almost 100,000 people per year, and the primary cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States is unpaid medical bills," Gilmour wrote.
"The massive expanse of incompatible EMR systems has introduced dangerous, costly errors as information is typed and retyped into rival programs. Blockchain introduces a single block of data and keeps a record of edits to information. With a blockchain EMR, we would have had my 18-year-old pregnant patient's labs and medical history at our fingertips. We would have had more time to comfort this teenage patient as she prepared to deliver a baby. Adopting blockchain will increase the quality of care and reduce soaring costs by eliminating redundancy."
Gilmour's vision might arrive much sooner than 20 years from now. Texas-based healthcare and clinical research firm HealthCarePoint recently announced a collaboration with EXOCHAIN to build blockchain technology to protect healthcare professionals and patient identity in healthcare and clinical trials.
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Translational Sciences announced a pilot project with four major hospitals to test using blockchain technology to secure sharing of information among hospitals, heathcare providers, and the FDA.
The scholarship's selection committee is composed of BitIRA managing staff members. BitIRA is a leading specialist in Bitcoin IRA setup and management. It has created BitIRA U as a means to provide knowledge to current and future generations on cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.
For more information on the Biannual BitIRA U Scholarship, contact us at info(at)bitira(dot)com or visit https://www.bitira.com/u/scholarship/.
BitIRA, BitIRA, https://www.bitira.com, +1 (800) 299-1567, [email protected]
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