First Name
GISELLE
Last Name
RICUR
What is the champion's current position?
MEDICAL EDUCATION MANAGER & TELEMEDICINE PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Website
Linkedin
Twitter
What are the champion's specialties or areas of expertise?
Giselle is a board-certified physician in Argentina and Spain. She completed her ophthalmology training and specialized as an Anterior Segment Surgeon in the early nineties, although she completed several ophthalmology-related observerships in the USA. By mid-nineties, she transitioned into the healthcare informatics field training in US-based Telemedicine programs (ECU, NC; UTMB, TX).
Her expertise includes the design and implementation of real-time teleconsultation programs, where she's acted as a consultant for many companies or international entities. She´s also skillful in designing curricula for capacity building and academic programs related to telehealth and digital transformation. And finally, she´s an excellent beta-tester (prototypes) of healthcare applications or diagnostic equipment when it comes to UX analysis,
She obtained her MBA in Strategic Direction at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain and her MSc in Healthcare Management (SBS-Swiss Business School). She is currently undergoing PhD studies in Science & Technology, applied to TeleOphathlmology (UNCU, ARG).
As founder and principle of the Zaldivar’s Telemedicine Program she helped implement and enhance the institution’s patient outreach to its new branches located both nationally and internationally. This broad organizational and administrative experience helped her build a vast network of peers in academia, government, and multi-disciplinary clinical domains.
Her training as a surgeon has not limited her growth or development as a manager, administrator, researcher, educator, and now as an entrepreneur; it actually empowered her. She has a quick grasp of clinical business models combined with her knowledge of emerging markets in Latin America and telehealth, which makes her a strong candidate for any international clinical outreach program.
Her teaching experience includes postgraduate faculty positions at the Healthcare Administration School (Aconcagua University); the Telemedicine Diploma Course (Cuyo’s National University Medical School); Director and Faculty of the Digital Healthcare Management Specialization Course and its Executive Master’s Program at ADEN’s International Business School (affiliated to the George Washington University Business School, USA and ADEN’s University in Panama).
Due to her expertise, she holds a long-standing membership of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA, since 2000); has held several leadership positions for its Ocular Telehealth and International SIGs, and ATALACC ; Member of the Editorial Committees of the Telemedicine and e-Health Journal, Telemedicine and Telecare Journal, and the Latin American Telehealth Journal; Member of the ICT Task Force of the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO), Member of the of the ICT and Education Interest Group of the Argentine Council of Ophthalmology (CAO), and of its Telemedicine Committee, as well as Founding member of the Argentinean Society of Telemedicine (ACTRA) and Coordinator of the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) Telemedicine Webinar Series.
Her expertise includes the design and implementation of real-time teleconsultation programs, where she's acted as a consultant for many companies or international entities. She´s also skillful in designing curricula for capacity building and academic programs related to telehealth and digital transformation. And finally, she´s an excellent beta-tester (prototypes) of healthcare applications or diagnostic equipment when it comes to UX analysis,
She obtained her MBA in Strategic Direction at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain and her MSc in Healthcare Management (SBS-Swiss Business School). She is currently undergoing PhD studies in Science & Technology, applied to TeleOphathlmology (UNCU, ARG).
As founder and principle of the Zaldivar’s Telemedicine Program she helped implement and enhance the institution’s patient outreach to its new branches located both nationally and internationally. This broad organizational and administrative experience helped her build a vast network of peers in academia, government, and multi-disciplinary clinical domains.
Her training as a surgeon has not limited her growth or development as a manager, administrator, researcher, educator, and now as an entrepreneur; it actually empowered her. She has a quick grasp of clinical business models combined with her knowledge of emerging markets in Latin America and telehealth, which makes her a strong candidate for any international clinical outreach program.
Her teaching experience includes postgraduate faculty positions at the Healthcare Administration School (Aconcagua University); the Telemedicine Diploma Course (Cuyo’s National University Medical School); Director and Faculty of the Digital Healthcare Management Specialization Course and its Executive Master’s Program at ADEN’s International Business School (affiliated to the George Washington University Business School, USA and ADEN’s University in Panama).
Due to her expertise, she holds a long-standing membership of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA, since 2000); has held several leadership positions for its Ocular Telehealth and International SIGs, and ATALACC ; Member of the Editorial Committees of the Telemedicine and e-Health Journal, Telemedicine and Telecare Journal, and the Latin American Telehealth Journal; Member of the ICT Task Force of the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO), Member of the of the ICT and Education Interest Group of the Argentine Council of Ophthalmology (CAO), and of its Telemedicine Committee, as well as Founding member of the Argentinean Society of Telemedicine (ACTRA) and Coordinator of the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) Telemedicine Webinar Series.
What are the champion's achievements in digital health?
As a Digital Health specialist, Giselle has been advocating for the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in healthcare for over 20 years. She firmly believes they are the key that will transform the way we care and treat people. In 2003, recognizing the critical need for knowledge management among the Latin American informatics initiatives, she founded the first international chapter of the American Telemedicine Association (ATALACC). Her efforts to launch this new entity helped build strong relationships with other organizations, such as the Distributed Medical Intelligence (DMI) group, the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), the Economic Council for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/UN), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).
She´s helped many colleagues, paving their way for capacity building in telehealth by organizing since the year 2004 multiple regional meetings (LAC), events, workshops and recently a series of telemedicine-focused webinars, to help those that needed to connect with their patients amidst lock-down or social distancing conditions. She has also designed the curricula for telehealth postgraduate training programs at Cuyo’s National University, Aconcagua University, ADEN International Business School and recently launched a Digital Health eLearning start-up called eTouchstone.
She has published peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters, and is an invited lecturer throughout the Latin American region, regarding real-time consultations, the physician/patient relationship in telemedicine, and how to implement ICT in order to extend patient outreach.
In recognition for her work and contributions in telehealth, she´s received several awards: the Polycom Award for Scientific Merit in Telemedicine (2005), ATA’s Certificate of Appreciation for SIG/Chapter Leadership as Founder and Immediate Past Chair of the ATALACC (2007), as well as for Past Vice Chair and Chair of ATA’s International SIG (2012); the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) Certificate of Appreciation for Contributions to the field of Tele-ophthalmology (2014).
In June 2020, she was inducted into the ATA’s College of Fellows, for her services and contributions to the field of Telemedicine and eHealth.
She´s helped many colleagues, paving their way for capacity building in telehealth by organizing since the year 2004 multiple regional meetings (LAC), events, workshops and recently a series of telemedicine-focused webinars, to help those that needed to connect with their patients amidst lock-down or social distancing conditions. She has also designed the curricula for telehealth postgraduate training programs at Cuyo’s National University, Aconcagua University, ADEN International Business School and recently launched a Digital Health eLearning start-up called eTouchstone.
She has published peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters, and is an invited lecturer throughout the Latin American region, regarding real-time consultations, the physician/patient relationship in telemedicine, and how to implement ICT in order to extend patient outreach.
In recognition for her work and contributions in telehealth, she´s received several awards: the Polycom Award for Scientific Merit in Telemedicine (2005), ATA’s Certificate of Appreciation for SIG/Chapter Leadership as Founder and Immediate Past Chair of the ATALACC (2007), as well as for Past Vice Chair and Chair of ATA’s International SIG (2012); the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) Certificate of Appreciation for Contributions to the field of Tele-ophthalmology (2014).
In June 2020, she was inducted into the ATA’s College of Fellows, for her services and contributions to the field of Telemedicine and eHealth.
Why is the champion passionate about digital health (how did the champion become interested in digital health)?
Giselle has always been passionate about being able to share knowledge, inspire others to innovate and reach out to their patients, regardless of their location. In other words, her passion revolves around being to help build bridges that can close the existing gaps in healthcare accessibility and capacity building.
She discovered the world of medical informatics in 1996, when internet became available in the hospital where she was training as a resident. The ability to access knowledge on demand through Medline, just blew her mind! No more months of waiting for accessing a research papers through a pharma rep that could travel to Buenos Aires to a library and get a hard copy, of out-of-date publications…it was all there, and up to date! Accessing critical information in a time-sensitive manner meant all the difference for patient care! Then, she discovered telemedicine, and travelled to the Unites States in the year 2000 order to train on how to enhance patient outreach by means of videoconferencing. During those years, she had just been a mother for the first time, and being able to keep track of her baby through SKYPE while being far from home, made her understand the importance of visual communications and their role in telemedicine. Connecting, no matter where she was or what time it was, seemed so obvious…nonetheless the healthcare systems in those years couldn´t seem to understand the gain or added value telemedicine had to offer. So she started advocating in different arenas, and has continued to do so to the present day.
Then, in only a matter of months COVID-19 became the true catalyzer, putting virtual care finally under the spotlight. So she continues advocating for digital healthcare adoption as part of our New Normal and she´s teaching actively how to get involved. She has also recently started an entrepreneurship whose main goal is to help activate “tomorrow´s innovators” in the new digital healthcare ecosystem.
She discovered the world of medical informatics in 1996, when internet became available in the hospital where she was training as a resident. The ability to access knowledge on demand through Medline, just blew her mind! No more months of waiting for accessing a research papers through a pharma rep that could travel to Buenos Aires to a library and get a hard copy, of out-of-date publications…it was all there, and up to date! Accessing critical information in a time-sensitive manner meant all the difference for patient care! Then, she discovered telemedicine, and travelled to the Unites States in the year 2000 order to train on how to enhance patient outreach by means of videoconferencing. During those years, she had just been a mother for the first time, and being able to keep track of her baby through SKYPE while being far from home, made her understand the importance of visual communications and their role in telemedicine. Connecting, no matter where she was or what time it was, seemed so obvious…nonetheless the healthcare systems in those years couldn´t seem to understand the gain or added value telemedicine had to offer. So she started advocating in different arenas, and has continued to do so to the present day.
Then, in only a matter of months COVID-19 became the true catalyzer, putting virtual care finally under the spotlight. So she continues advocating for digital healthcare adoption as part of our New Normal and she´s teaching actively how to get involved. She has also recently started an entrepreneurship whose main goal is to help activate “tomorrow´s innovators” in the new digital healthcare ecosystem.
How can we attract more women to work on digital health?
Giselles said : “As a Digital Health specialist, I’ve been advocating for the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) in healthcare for over 20 years. I firmly believe they are the key that will transform the way we care and treat people.”
“Inspiring other women to innovate by showing them that anything is possible if you firmly believe in your cause; coaching them to try new ways of working; stimulating thoughtful thinking among them; and most of all, helping to close the gap of universal access and equal opportunities through education and advocacy, have been the principles that have guided my way during these past twenty-five years.”
“Hopefully, somebody has followed my path, just like I followed Dr. Rosa Tang, Dr. Nora Olivieri and Lori Balch’s pathways… they were my source of inspiration, at a time when coming from another country and being woman were the two most important challenges I had to face, in order to move forward.”
“Inspiring other women to innovate by showing them that anything is possible if you firmly believe in your cause; coaching them to try new ways of working; stimulating thoughtful thinking among them; and most of all, helping to close the gap of universal access and equal opportunities through education and advocacy, have been the principles that have guided my way during these past twenty-five years.”
“Hopefully, somebody has followed my path, just like I followed Dr. Rosa Tang, Dr. Nora Olivieri and Lori Balch’s pathways… they were my source of inspiration, at a time when coming from another country and being woman were the two most important challenges I had to face, in order to move forward.”
Imagen
Which organization does the champion work for?
INSTITUTO ZALDIVAR
What is the champion's country of origin?
United States
Where does the champion live (country)
Argentina