Biomedical Technology Innovation Education and Its Effect on Graduate Student Careers Over 17 Years

In the 1990s, interest in biomedical technologies blossomed among students across disciplines. In parallel, there was a push in academia to develop courses enabling interdisciplinary problem solving and more holistic, practice-oriented education. In response, Stanford Biodesign created a graduate course in biomedical technology innovation. Seventeen years later, we sought to gauge the impact of this course on student commitment to careers in biomedical technology, whether students took on leadership and innovation roles, and if they found the holistic innovation process we teach to be useful in their careers. We disseminated a web-based survey to collect self-reported data from students completing the course between 2003 and 2019. 186 students responded (24.8%). 62% ( n = 115/186) reported a strong commitment to careers in biomedical technology before the course while 84% ( n = 156/186) felt that way after. The improvement in mean scores from pre-course (3.8) to post-course (4.3) was statistically significant ( p < 0.0001). Additionally, 78% ( n = 145/186) currently work in healthcare, with 72% of those ( n = 115/145) in biomedical technology. 82% ( n = 146/179) were in innovation roles and 58% ( n = 102/177) were in leadership positions. Nearly 94% ( n = 161/172) found the course influential and the process to be useful in their careers. The data suggest that the course is perceived as valuable and is effective at creating and/or sustaining student interest in biomedical technology innovation. The results point to multiple improvement opportunities that are important for keeping the course relevant.