I was introduced to computer programming in senior high school. I’m not an advanced developer, but I enjoy every bit of the art. I enjoy how easy it can be to turn an idea into a reality, I enjoy fixing bugs, and I enjoy using keyboard keys that I wouldn’t typically use.

Up until October last year, I had treated programming as a hobby, playing around with languages, libraries, and frameworks for whatever tasks I got excited about. I wrote scripts for GUI and CLI apps, Telegram bots, machine learning models, and websites. In between projects, I worked on programming challenges and read pages from programming textbooks.

My learning has not been structured, and I want to change that. I want to learn more, and I want to write code regularly, but I want to focus my efforts on machine learning (ML). Specifically, I want to focus on the applications of ML to biomedical science, clinical practice, and medical education.

I choose to focus on ML in medicine for a few reasons: I think ML can significantly address many of the challenges healthcare systems of developing countries like mine face, I find other areas of applied computer science less exciting, and I think integrating an endeavor like this into my medical studies will make the learning process more fun.

I’ve spent a lot of my free time on ML and ML-related textbooks and MOOCs since October. I’ve dipped my toes into the required math and theory, and I think I’m ready to (with a great deal of wisdom from Scott Young and Jeremy Howard) build myself a curriculum and work towards growing my understanding and skills.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing some of my projects and writing about what I’m learning. This will not only test my understanding but also hold me accountable throughout my learning journey.