The Biodesign Model: Training Physician Innovators and Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Stanford Biodesign was founded in 2000 by Dr. Paul Yock, an interventional cardiologist and inventor. His goal was to create an ecosystem of training and support for Stanford University students, fellows, and faculty with the talent and ambition to become leaders in health technology innovation. In collaboration with entrepreneur Josh Makower, Yock launched the Biodesign Innovation Fellowship in 2001—a first-of-its-kind, one-year, full-time training program for aspiring innovators with backgrounds in medicine, engineering, and business. In 2005, Dr. Tom Krummel, a pediatric surgeon, joined the team to introduce Biodesign to surgeons during their research years. Over time, the Biodesign approach expanded beyond Stanford University and is now widely taught within universities, institutions, and corporations across the United States and around the world.

At the heart of the Stanford Biodesign approach is the “biodesign innovation process” –a comprehensive, repeatable process for need-driven health technology innovation. The process is based on the design thinking methodology, but incorporates specific activities that are essential for bringing a new invention forward in the complex healthcare environment. Following the approach, innovators identify compelling unmet clinical needs, invent novel solutions to address them, and prepare to implement those new medical devices, diagnostics, and other technologies into patient care, with the hope of improving outcomes and/or reducing costs to the healthcare system. The process has been adopted by innovators at the undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate, and executive levels. However, this chapter will focus specifically on how physician innovators and entrepreneurs can engage in this process and apply it to their careers.