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Medical Innovators Development Program

Year 1

Your M1 year is all about getting accustomed to the challenges and rewards of med school, as well diving into the rich community of the MIDP.

The MD Foundation: Curriculum 2.0

Welcome to your first year in Foundations of Medical Knowledge. This stage of the curriculum, which lasts about 13 months, introduces you to the array of concepts and cases you’ll need to thrive in clerkships. The next three years will all build on this strong foundation of medical knowledge.

During this year, you’ll how to:

  • Conduct history and physical exams
  • Interview patients
  • Use medical databases
  • Evaluate case studies

Read more about our innovative and rigorous Curriculum 2.0 and check out the list of your first-year courses.

Meanwhile, in MIDP: Innovation Forums

Join the entire MIDP cohort once a week for a Wednesday seminar and lunch with a speaker from academia, industry, or entrepreneurship.

Innovation forums continue through all four years of MIDP, and they’ll be your touchpoint for reconnecting with your colleagues and MIDP leadership every week. Besides hearing incredible talks from speakers, you’ll network with interdisciplinary leaders and stay up to date with what’s going on in medical innovation.

Past Innovation Forums

A woman in business attire stands with arms crossed outside

February 16, 2022

Vanderbilt University School of Law Research Professor of Political Science and Law Samar Ali spoke to the MIDP about work centered on positive compromise through promoting conflict-resolution, best practices among people, and polarization among communities and nations as to better inform innovations in health care equity.

Man in glasses and a blue and white striped shirt

February 9, 2022

Nick Bartelt, MBA, shared his expertise on visioning goals, rediscovering passions, and exploring strengths. His backgrounds in electrical and biomedical engineering and business administration provided invaluable insights for future medical innovators.

Larry Van Horn, PhD, MBA, MPH

November 10, 2021
Larry Van Horn, PhD, MBA, MPH

Eric Keller, MD
November 3, 2021
Eric Keller, MD

Laura Paulsen
October 20, 2021
Laura Paulsen
Life at a Mid-Stage Orthopaedic Med-Tech Startup

Dave Owens

October 13, 2021
Dave Owens
What Vanderbilt’s Wond’ry Has to Offer

Arie Nettles

October 6, 2021
Arie Nettles
How We See the World

Meet a First-Year MIDP Student

A man in a white coat stands next to a medical school seal outside of a libraryM1 Darryl Delsoin started his own nonprofit to provide clean cooking fuel to people in his home country of Haiti before coming to Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He sees MIDP as a natural fit to combine his passion for entrepreneurship with medical knowledge and care.

“When I found out about MIDP and the chance to combine entrepreneurship with my passion for medicine, I thought it was really neat,” he said. “Coming to the U.S., I didn’t know exactly how clinics work here. I’ve had some shadowing experience, but that doesn’t mean I know how everything works; the systems are complicated.

“MIDP offers a learning experience where I can identify the problems and be innovative in that multifaceted and complex system. I’m not exactly sure what I want to do after medical school, but I know I want to do things that address problems at a systemic level. I know I want to work at a clinic, but I also want to work on initiatives that can be incorporated in many clinics across many cultures.”