A Patient-Centered, Ethical Approach to Medical Device Innovation

Students, residents, and fellows are in the front lines of patient care, confronting countless unmet clinical needs daily. Usually these needs are recognized momentarily and forgotten quickly, with attention diverted to the next consult or procedure. Often the need is missed completely. Medical trainees are all too familiar with the 2 a.m. page about the confused elderly patient who fell on the way to the bathroom, screaming baby with challenging IV access, or conversation with a cancer patient when no further allopathic treatment options are warranted. Each is an opportunity to ask, "Can we do better?" Those in the trenches are best positioned to identify problems and develop solutions. The guidelines for developing needed solutions to these unmet needs that follow come from a program dedicated to that specific purpose.