The Office of Student Opportunities (OSO), housed within the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), is pleased to announce the establishment of its newest track program — the Clinical Practice Innovation and Entrepreneurship Track Program. Designed to increase the interest, understanding, and capabilities of medical students in practice innovation and entrepreneurship, this track program prepares future physicians for the ever-changing health care environment.
Created by OSO in 2005, track programs are educational programs designed to enrich students' experiences and opportunities, and expose them to various concentrations of study. Students have the opportunity to choose a program of study in one of several areas of health care, outside of the standard clinical curriculum.
Clinical practice innovation refers to the process of effectively conceptualizing, implementing and studying ways to improve the healthcare delivery at the bedside and also the broader health care delivery system. Entrepreneurship is the ability and willingness to develop, organize, source, and manage a business venture for commercial purposes.
The Clinical Practice Innovation and Entrepreneurship Track Program is designed for students to:
- Gain a broad understanding of the concepts of practice innovation — including approaches to assessing gaps in quality, quality improvement, and what is required to build sustainable improvements over time.
- Acquire knowledge in the concepts of entrepreneurship and understand what it takes to develop, organize, manage, and source a successful business venture.
- Identify and participate in a wide variety of opportunities aimed at improving the understanding and practice of these concepts.
- Develop analytic capabilities to be able to conceptualize practice innovations, and a basic understanding of the process of how and when to potentially commercialize an idea.
“This new track comes at an important time, when the way medical care is being paid for and delivered in this country is fundamentally changing,” said Jesse Pines, M.D., director of the Office of Clinical Practice Innovation and professor of emergency medicine and health policy at SMHS. “Learning the skills to be a leader in practice innovation will be an important skill for the 21st century physician.” Pines serves as a director of this track program.
The addition of the Clinical Practice Innovation and Entrepreneurship Track Program makes nine total track programs at SMHS. Other track programs include Community/Urban Health, Emergency Management, Global Health, Health Policy, Integrative Medicine, Medical Education Leadership, Medical Humanities, and Clinical and Translational Research.
For more information, visit the Clinical Practice Innovation and Entrepreneurship site.
