Balancing Theory and Practice: Patrick Nelli on the Dataquest Way
Patrick Nelli, Data Scientist
In theory, the healthcare industry stands to see incredible improvements through the use of applied data science. Those improvements, though, depend on experts who understand not only healthcare data but also the practicalities of the healthcare industry.
Data science learner Patrick Nelli knows this all too well. He’s been interested in improving healthcare through technology since college, where he studied biophysics and biochemistry. After he graduated, he wanted to really understand the logistics of the healthcare industry, so he spent a few years in healthcare investment banking and private equity to learn the business side of the healthcare industry.
Learning with Dataquest
Once he learned the ropes, all that was left was to change the world — and that’s how he discovered Dataquest.
The best part of Dataquest is the balance between theory and pragmatism. The lessons seem to walk step by step through how specific analyses are performed before showing the easier scikit-learn methods to perform these analysis.
Nelli struggled to find a platform that fully incorporated both theory and coded examples. At Dataquest, though, he has been exploring a variety of models, all of which are helping him brainstorm use cases to kick off his own projects.
Personally, I believe the healthcare space will benefit from data science for decades to come. While most providers are just starting to build data analytics competencies, the health systems further along the maturity spectrum are building predictive models ingrained in care processes. I want to personally understand how to develop these models and be able to use this knowledge to develop additional predictive model use cases.
The future of healthcare is data, and the future of data is Dataquest. As Nelli has discovered, learners at Dataquest learn the principles behind data science, and then they complete real-world projects to see how to apply those big ideas — and to keep up with changes to the industry. You can only read or watch so much about data science before you need to start doing it. Come check out the platform that has changed over a million learners’ lives, including Patrick Nelli, VP of Corporate Analytics at Health Catalyst.