Year 3
A one-year preclinical series means more time in later years to explore and innovate in the specialties you love. That’s what the M3 and M4 years are all about.
The MD Foundations: Immersion Phase
Your M3 and M4 years form a highly individualized period that builds upon the foundational knowledge you acquired in clerkships. Through advanced clinical experiences, an acting internship, a 3- to 6-month research project, and various elective courses, you’ll pursue your individual medical interests and narrow down your specialty choices.
Read more about our uniquely individualized M3 and M4 curriculum on our MD Curriculum website.
Meanwhile, in MIDP: IDEA Lab
In the Innovation Design Experience and Application (IDEA) Lab, your MIDP cohort will select one of the health care systems problems you identified during Innovation Activism in your M2 year.
Through this 12-week course, Vanderbilt faculty and industry advisers will mentor you as you:
- Select a problem from the list of health care systems problems you identified during your M2 clerkships
- Identify and interview stakeholders (clinicians, patients, administrators) in the customer discovery process
- Brainstorm and select one solution to develop further
- Build and test a small-scale prototype for implementation in VUMC
- Pitch the prototype to VUMC hospital leadership or other relevant parties
You’ll meet twice a week with your faculty mentors, who’ll connect you with hospital leaders and entrepreneurs around Nashville.
Meanwhile, in MIDP: Intrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship
In this self-directed, longitudinal course, your team gets the chance to take your IDEA Lab initiative to t he next step— whether that’s stage-gating a testing model, pitching to hospital leadership at VUMC, or taking the model straight to investors.
During this course, you’ll gain hands-on experience with:
- The FDA approval process for medical devices
- Putting entrepreneurship and business concepts into practice
- Issues related to intellectual property, health policy, and global health
The B&E course sets aside 2 to 4 hours per week for your team over the course of the whole year, and your cohort will make the ultimate decisions about how best to use this time and what directions to pursue.
Meet a third-year MIDP student: Nate Kelm
Nate Kelm, PhD, earned his doctorate in biomedical engineering at Vanderbilt University and previously worked as a Clinical R&D specialist at Insightec before coming to VUSM. A husband and father, Nate brought real-world experience and a background in neurosurgery treatment through MR-guided ultrasound devices to MIDP.
Nate hopes to improve health care by developing approaches and devices for targeted delivery of cancer therapy that would minimize side effects and improve treatment outcomes.
“Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and impacts people in all stages of life,” he said. “While cancer therapeutics have made significant advances in recent years, many still come with devastating systemic side effects.”
In his second year, Nate turns to the support of faculty and peers to work toward reaching his innovation goals.
“MIDP brings together an outstanding community of students and faculty with diverse capabilities and experiences to work toward a common goal of health care innovation. Each member of MIDP truly cares for each other and goes out of their way to help each other succeed. Throughout my first year of medical school, older MIDP students were constantly checking in with me to provide tips and encouragement. From intellectual stimulation to friendship to career advice, I have found tremendous support through MIDP that I know will continue to grow in the years to come.”