Biotech entrepeneurship/startup culture in med school?

[Determinance]

This is something I've always been curious about, but I'm not quite sure how many opportunities I would have to pursue something like this (and find others interested in this kind of thing) in med school, given it runs almost completely contrary to clinical practice. It must be possible though-- I've heard of med students from UofT creating startups, and there was that one guy from UBC a long while back that basically patented a medical device while in med school.

So I'm wondering, how would I be able to expose myself to the entrepreneurial side of health care in med school?

[ZBL]

You do as all great entrepreneurs have done: you take it upon yourself. 

[canada747]

3 hours ago, Determinance said:

This is something I've always been curious about, but I'm not quite sure how many opportunities I would have to pursue something like this (and find others interested in this kind of thing) in med school, given it runs almost completely contrary to clinical practice. It must be possible though-- I've heard of med students from UofT creating startups, and there was that one guy from UBC a long while back that basically patented a medical device while in med school.

So I'm wondering, how would I be able to expose myself to the entrepreneurial side of health care in med school?

It's surprisingly uncommon, actually. I wish it was more common! The purpose of publicly funded medical schools are to produce doctors for the public system, so these endeavours are often seen as running counter to the goals of the system. MD/PhDs on the other hand are more likely to get involved in these things, simply because they have the resources to tinker, and the time (3 years for research).

[MDinCanada]

You have to seek those opportunities. Lors of medicine hackathons, but generally, it's difficult to be "useful" as a medical student unless you have your own idea/technical skills, since we often don't have the clinical experience that makes us useful as clinicians part of a startup team. You can PM me, I'm very interested in health startups

[offmychestplease]

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[ToxicMegacolon]

Being a medical student does not confer any insight or skills that are useful for anything besides residency. We don't have anything useful to offer with respect to startups.

[bearded frog]

Most med students are just trying to survive and make it to Carms with a reasonable application for their desired specialty. Those who do entrepreneurial/start up stuff in med school do it in spite of being in med school, not because of it.

[Tullius]

OP: Medical school in Canada selects for people who take comfort in safe, well trodden educational and career paths, with clear rules to follow and as little risk as possible.  It selects for these people at the medical student, faculty, and dean levels.

Innovation and entrepreneurship require willingness to do things that have never been done, try things that have never been tried, with no clear path to success, and very high risk of failure.

So in general I'd say there is a bit of a cultural barrier at Canadian medical schools.

PM me if you like.

[MaxHerrson]

I think this start-up is a bit more complicated and requires much more investment and research, which is not something that you can combine with your studies in med school. But I see you shared this idea a while ago, and I wonder how things have changed for you? Any results to brag about?