Curriculum
The Global Medical Innovation (GMI) program requires 30 credit hours and is designed to be completed in one academic year. The program faculty and staff provide ongoing mentoring to students to meet the program requirements while working to achieve their career goals. The 30 credit hour requirement includes the following courses.
Summer Costa Rica Experience: Clinical Observation Bootcamp, Medical Innovation Bootcamp, Internship with a Medical Device Company (or Clinical Immersion in a local hospital)
- BIOE 600 or BIOE 506
Fall and Spring coursework including:
- BIOE 527 & BIOE 529 Healthcare Innovation Entrepreneurship (fall/spring)
- BIOE 528 & BIOE 530 – Medical Innovation Engineering & Design Lab I and II (fall and spring)
- BIOE 627 & BIOE 628 – Medical Innovation Industry Seminar (fall/spring)
- 1-2 BIOE 500+ level electives
- 1 Graduate Elective
- 1 Professional Development Course
- 1 Quantitative Elective
The GMI program features project-focused courses and experienced specifically arranged to prepare students for professional practice.
Engineering Design Project Course: Medical Innovation Engineering and Design Lab
This yearlong team-based design course sequence (BIOE 528 & BIOE 530) teaches students a process of early stage medical innovation. Local and global partners pitch unmet clinical needs to students, and then student teams work towards an engineering device based solution. Using a design process that combines aspects of the Rice engineering design process, the Stanford Biodesign process, and the FDA Waterfall model, students apply technical engineering, medical and prototyping skills to medical design projects. Industry experts from around the nation teach students a range of topics including needs finding, design controls, regulatory and IP, rapid prototyping, and quality system implementation.
This class runs through the fall and spring semesters, and students form and stay in teams for the entire team of 3-5 for the year. Some projects are sponsored by a clinician, industry representative, or grant mechanism.
Business Project Course: Healthcare Innovation Entrepreneurship
In this second yearlong team-based course (BIOE 527 & BIOE 529), students follow the methods of Biodesign to discover innovation and work towards creating a venture to meet unmet clinical needs. Through an interdisciplinary team of med students, business students, and members of the GMI cohort, student teams work through topics such as: Business plan development, market and competitive analysis, stakeholder analysis, pitching, reimbursement, regulatory, IP, and clinical strategy. This course is taught in concert with Rice’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, one of the components making Rice the nation’s top school for entrepreneurship, 5 years in a row.
This class runs through the fall and spring semesters; students form and stay in teams for the entire team of 3-5 for the year. This is a second and different project than in Medical Innovation Engineering and Design Lab.
Building a Professional Network and Preparing for a Career: Medical Innovation Industry Seminar
This two course seminar sequence prepares students for a successful career search in the medical technology industry while helping students to actively build their network of individuals in the med technology industry. Students in the GMI program and the Applied Bioengineering program participate in this class together.
In the fall, students hear presentations from individuals in the med tech industry with 1, 5, and ten years experience. They complete case studies and interview individuals in an attempt to help the student identify their desired spot in the med tech industry. Students also produce the media necessary to mount a successful career search, including, a resume, current LinkedIn profile, networking practice, interviewing skills, cover letters, personal elevator pitch.
In the spring, students continue to develop their professional network by connecting with individuals and conducting interviews with them on their careers. Students complete these interviews in small groups and produce podcast episodes of the interaction. Additionally, students pitch at medical device competitions.
Interested in applying?
Address
BioScience Research Collaborative
6500 Main Street, Suite 1030
Houston, Texas 77030
Contact
(713) 348-3253
gmi@rice.edu