Alumni Spotlight: Deevakar Rogith, MBBS, Ph.D.

Deevakar Rogith, MBBS, Ph.D. graduated from SBMI with a Ph.D. in Health Informatics in Dec. 2015. Rogith is now a faculty member at SBMI as an assistant professor.

How has your role as a former student at SBMI impacted your new role as a professor?
Having been a student here, I understand the dynamics of students, student life, various faculties, and their research and  courses. I use this to help new students and mentor students working towards a Ph.D. Having done research as a student, now my research collaborations get a new platform to grow and expand, but with the same strong base. 

Who was your academic advisor while you were a student and how did he or she influence you?
Dean Jiajie Zhang, Ph.D. was my advisor. Working with him influenced my decision to remain at SBMI. He identified my talent and helped guide me in the right direction. As my mentor, I consulted him on job opportunities after graduation. He asked me "What do you want to do - research, teaching, or industry work?" I told him, "I wanted to do all three, but primarily solve real world problems". He introduced me to the Applied Informatics Program and I felt this would be the ideal place for me to grow. I can be a teacher, researcher and translate my work to the industry.

When you were a student at SBMI did you see yourself teaching here one day?
Yes. Around the third year of my Ph.D., I started exploring job opportunities - I also visited other universities, and discussed options there. As a student, I had many lunches with the faculty candidates. They also provided me with valuable information regarding the school.

Did you know after graduation that you were going to go into academia?
Yes; I always wanted to be a teacher. As a clinician, teaching was part of me so I took every opportunity to teach. I mentored students and tutored a few during my student life. During my Ph.D. program, I was a teaching assistant for six different courses.

What are a few of your goals for yourself and for your students?

1. Establish a research profile by applying for grants. Looking into grants on usability analysis and clinical informatics.
2. Develop modern Apps for EHRs - working on potential collaborations with commercial EHRs.
3. Prepare a new and upgraded version of the Healthcare Interface Design course.
4. I do not have any students yet, but my goal for them is to plan a career in Biomedical Informatics. My continuous spectrum from student to faculty encouraged many new admits to contact me to learn about student life and informatics as a field.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
As Clinical Informatics faculty at SBMI.

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