Innovation Elective

OVERVIEW

The MaineHealth Innovation Center has launched a 4th year medical student elective with Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), its principal academic partner. The 4-week course curriculum is steeped in innovation science and theory, which learners then apply on the front lines of care delivery and administration by identifying a course-long healthcare problem to solve.

Throughout the course, learners will clarify their problems, engage in customer discovery, search for existing or novel models, develop a pathway, process or prototype, define stakeholders, run short experiments, and map a process for future deployment of their innovative solution. This course will educate learners on the important and difficult job of asking the right questions throughout the innovation process, which is often more important than producing the right answer. The final projects will have a higher likelihood of success due to the course demands of rigorous attention to the variables that drive the effective implementation of new ideas.

APPLY

The Innovation Elective is currently only available to medical students at Tufts University School of Medicine, the principle academic partner of Maine Medical Center, or an affiliated medical school. The course is designed for 4th year students. If you are interested in joining, please follow your medical school’s registration process.

NEXT OFFERING: October 25, 2021 – November 19, 2021

“This course made me pick up my head and think about things differently. It gave me energy and excitement about being in the healthcare field.”

Jacob Wagner, UNE Medical Student

Notes and sketches from an Innovation Elective student project.

Notes and sketches from an Innovation Elective student project.

User discovery interviews from the Fall 2020 Innovation Elective.

User discovery interviews from the Fall 2020 Innovation Elective.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Currently, the Innovation Elective is only available to medical students at Tufts University School of Medicine or medical schools affiliated with Maine Medical Center. The course is specifically designed for medical students in their 4th year.

While we strongly encourage students to have a clinical problem in mind that they wish to solve throughout the 4-week curriculum, it is not required. Students taking the course without a project will be assigned to another project of the MaineHealth Innovation Center.

Please follow the registration process of your medical school. For more information, please email the innovation_center@mainehealth.org.

PAST PROJECTS

Rachel Fahey – Medical Student, UNE
Project: Time is Brain: An Approach to Speeding Up Acute Stroke Care

Jacob Wagner – Medical Student, UNE
Project: Pardon the Interruption: Innovating Protocols in Radiology