Inventing our future: Training the next generation of surgeon innovators

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Current surgical care and technology has evolved over the centuries from the interplay between creative surgeons and new technologies. As both fields become more specialized, that interplay is threatened. A 2-year educational fellowship is described which teaches both the process and the discipline of medical/surgical device innovation. Multi-disciplinary teams (surgeons, engineers, business grads) are assembled to educate a generation of translators, who can bridge the gap between scientific and technologic advances and the needs of the physician and the patient.

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Regional advantage: Why Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Stanford University?

Observers have discussed and indeed codified the notion of “regional advantages.”4 Fifty percent of the successful medical device companies in this country are located within a 50-mile radius of the Stanford University campus. More than 100 startups translating scientific discoveries to bedside solutions have been the collective output of Stanford students, residents, and faculty over the years. The historic success, even in the serendipitous process of medical device innovation, is based on

Children: The orphans of innovation

Historically, technology development for pediatric problems has been a low priority. In general, the FDA barriers are high, markets are small, and the payor mix is poor. Most pediatric surgical technology has trickled down from adult-engineered devices and tools. For all of us privileged to care for children, such a set of conditions suggests a need and indeed an obligation. We believe that the high demands of a pediatric solution are just as likely to benefit an adult market; this has helped

Why now?

The recently published NIH roadmap has highlighted a fundamental gap between basic scientific discovery and translation into patient care application. The roadmap challenges our universities and all of us to discover ways to close this gap. These training programs are designed to do just that.

We believe that the knowledge and skills of medical device innovation constitute a discipline that can be taught and mentored. Based on decades of personal experience and 5 years of specific training

Case study 1

Stanford surgical resident Russell Woo, MD, joined three engineers in the 2003 Biodesign Innovation Program (Figure 6). At the end of 10 months, the outputs included: eight invention disclosures, three provisional patents, one business plan, a biodesign database and manual; and four innovators educated in the process.

The team was recognized as first runner-up in the Stanford BASES Competition and received funding from the Office of Technology Licensing at Stanford University as well as the

Application and selection process

Because of the need to reach a highly selective group of postdoctoral surgeons and engineers (with a demonstrated desire and capability in innovation), we recruit both broadly and specifically. Announcements, letters, and posters are sent to the chairs of the 100 biomedical engineering departments in the United States as well as other key laboratories in electrical, mechanical, chemical engineering, and computer science departments. In a similar fashion, the top 50 surgical residencies are

Boot camp

The training program begins in July with an 8-week, high-intensity “boot camp.” The morning of each day is devoted to lectures in three broad categories:

  • 1

    Introduction to clinical science, technology, and procedures; all team members receive HIPAA certification;

  • 2

    Overview of biomedical engineering science and technology; and

  • 3

    Introduction to the medical device innovation process; a preview of the steps to come, including the basics of needs finding and characterization, brainstorming, prototyping,

Teaching responsibility

The trainees serve as teaching assistants for a Stanford graduate class (Bioengineering 372 A, B) offered in the Winter and Spring terms. Classes are composed of graduate and postdoctoral students from the Schools of Engineering, Medicine, and Business. The class is divided into teams of three to four students who take one of the trainee’s needs forward in a needs validation and invention sequence. Our trainees serve as high level teaching assistants/mentors for two or three teams, thus

Second year training schedule (Figure 13)

As with all postdoctoral programs, the goal of the Surgical Innovation Training Program postdoctoral experience is for our trainees to achieve independent status for the next stage of their career. In this arena, the essential training required is direct experience in taking concepts through prototyping and early stage testing and, in the best case, bringing it forward into clinical practice. Just as with laboratory research, independent status requires independent work.

The second year provides

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