Bench To Bedside

The Bench to Bedside Competition is an exciting and vibrant program that introduces multi-disciplinary students to the fascinating world of medical/global health innovation. The enthusiasm for Bench to Bedside has been remarkable from its inception. Approximately 200 students participated in last year’s competition, forming 45 entrepreneurial teams. The students’ creativity and out-of-the-box thinking resulted in very unique design concepts, several of which are currently heading toward commercialization. Student teams form into multidisciplinary start-up companies and are given the task of identifying an unmet clinical need. Teams are given access to over 100 University physicians from a broad area of specialties to serve as their consultants, key opinion leaders and stakeholders. The teams have six months and a $500 development fund to develop medical device concepts that address their identified need. In that six-month time period students will have evaluated the IP landscape, prototyped their design and constructed a business plan. The program culminates in a formal presentation of all team projects at an annual awards competition. The event draws participation from faculty physicians, residents, industry leaders, venture capital firms, and the highest echelons of the University leadership. The team projects are evaluated and scored for business strategy, design quality and healthcare impact by a VIP panel of judges. Top teams are awarded over in prize money to support further project development.