Learner Profile
Suyog Jain
Company
Guardant Health AMEA
HMX Course
Genetic Testing and Sequencing Technologies
As a senior medical manager at Guardant AMEA, Dr. Suyog Jain regularly speaks with colleagues and physicians regarding the latest developments in cancer diagnostics. He recognized a need to build his knowledge of advances in genetic testing and sequencing to be more effective in his work and make scientific conversations more meaningful.
Why were you interested in taking the genetic testing and sequencing course?
The company I work with is heavily focused on next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, and, therefore, sometimes it is expected from me as a company representative, and a medical affairs expert, that I am aware of the basics of NGS. How does sequencing work, what’s the difference between different technologies ?
What elements of the course stood out to you as being a helpful way to understand these concepts?
The overall structure of the course was very clear. What I found very, very useful were the animations and the voiceover behind them. There was sync between what was being scribbled on the whiteboard, like an image of a chromosome, and the person speaking. I could feel that there was editing done; that is done so nicely, I did not have to fast-forward or pause in between [concepts].
Also, before each lesson started I had a PDF with clearly outlined learning objectives, so I’d know what are the 10 or 15 expectations from this particular subtopic. Whenever that topic would come in, I would be continuously thinking of the potential responses to the learning objectives.
Did you find the assessments useful?
Most of the time in exams, the questions are limited to whatever has been taught in the section. That was not the case [in this course]. Some of the learnings had to be in between the lines, even if those were not the words spoken during the training, those were not the exact concepts taught in the class; I had to draw some parallels and allusions. It was not easy, and it made me think and understand the concept better.
How do you think you’ll apply this to your work?
My role in the organization is twofold. One is making sure that my internal marketing and sales team is educated. Number two is [making sure] the physicians we work with are aware of the fundamental concept and can distinguish between different technologies and I’m able to have a dialogue with them.
With an improved understanding of the sequencing technologies, I will have more meaningful conversations with physicians and also educate internal staff on the common questions they face.