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The Surgical Program in Innovation (SPIN): A Design and Prototyping Curriculum for Surgical Trainees
Daniel J Wong1, David Miranda-Nieves2, Prathima Nandivada3
1D.J. Wong is a fourth-year resident, Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
Summary
Surgical trainees gained innovation skills through the Surgical Program in Innovation (SPIN) curriculum. This program successfully equipped participants to identify clinical needs and develop novel solutions, enhancing their creative problem-solving abilities.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Surgical Innovation
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Health professions education often lacks training in innovation and creative problem-solving.
- Existing innovation programs may require full-time commitment or prior expertise, creating a gap in surgical graduate education.
- There is a need for curricula enabling trainees to identify and solve unmet clinical challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a curriculum for surgical trainees focused on innovation and creative problem-solving.
- To equip surgical residents with skills in identifying clinical needs, designing solutions, and initiating commercialization.
- To address the gap in innovation training within surgical graduate medical education.
Main Methods:
- The Surgical Program in Innovation (SPIN) is a 6-month workshop-based curriculum.
- Monthly workshops cover surgeon-driven problem identification, product design, prototype fabrication, and commercialization.
- Participants work in teams, mentored by faculty from medicine, engineering, and the medical technology (MedTech) industry.
Main Results:
- 49 trainees, including 41 surgical residents, participated between 2015-2018.
- 13 teams ideated and pitched novel devices, with 10 fabricating prototypes.
- Post-course surveys showed significant increases in confidence in problem statement generation, CAD, prototyping, and pitching.
Conclusions:
- Integrating innovation and design thinking into clinical training is crucial for developing future physicians as problem solvers.
- The SPIN program demonstrates a successful model for innovation education in surgical residency.
- Future plans include expanding SPIN to other specialties and assessing its long-term impact on innovation and collaboration.
