Teaching Team

University of Miami Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Bioengineering, Lee Kaplan, MD
Visiting Lecturer Ben Creo, MDiv
Executive Fellow Brian Walker, MPH, PHD in women’ health

Overview and Requirements

The course is designed to enable students to develop and grow the business plans they developed in “Innovating in Health Care” (Course 2815, Fall Q1), which is a prerequisite to this course.

Students can expect to:

1. Review their existing business plan , its opportunities and challenges, and develop strategies for sustained success , including testing various go-to-market strategies and their customer acquisition costs through extensive field work. The teaching team will do their best to assure that the relevant doors are opened to you.
2. Present your progress toward your goals to the class every two weeks, in a PowerPoint, and ask for the specific feedback you desire. The teaching team will review your work as mentors.
3. Give feedback to your fellow highly motivated student teams and specify what you learned from giving feedback.
4. Interact with expert lecturers on relevant topics such as IP strategies, VC funding, non-dilutive funding sources, obtaining a site etc.
5. Receive advice from expert business mentors, who either advised you in the Fall Q1 course or are new connections to your team.

This course gives you an opportunity to work on something of great interest to you, like an Independent Project course, but preserves many of the benefits of a larger course, including opportunities for guest speakers, development of a network, feedback from your peers, and clearly delineated deliverables and milestones.

A substantial number of “Innovating in Health Care” businesses have been funded by mentors and investors they met through the course.

Who Should Enroll?

Students who want to focus seriously on health care innovation because they are either running or want to start a firm immediately. Some, because they think their business will grow rapidly and create a successful career path for them. Some because they believe their business can do good for the world. And some, because they treasure the lessons they learn from building a business.

Course Deliverables

The main deliverable will be the team’s final presentation to a shark tank-like group of experts. Additionally, you will create a PowerPoint deck with descriptions of your progress in creating your business for every class meeting.

Short FAQ

Q: Can I take Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care if I am the only person involved in my business?

A: Yes, we welcome teams of all sizes; including solo founders, multiple team members in the class, and teams with multiple members, only one of whom is required to have taken Innovating in Health Care in Q1.

Q: What are classes like?

A: The course meets every other week so that students can provide updates on their progress and receive feedback from the teaching team and their peers. During the weeks when we do not meet in-person, students are expected to make tangible progress on their business plans and seek advice from course mentors.

Q: Can I take the class if I just have an idea, but I have not started yet?

A: Innovating in Health Care (Q1) is a prerequisite for this course, but you may pivot to another plan from the one you submitted in Q1.

Q: How about a family business, preparing an investment memo for a target acquisition, or a similar project that is not quite a “startup”?

A: Yes, we welcome these types of projects and numerous students have pursued them in the past.

Q: What if my business has modest goals?

A: That is fine, in Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care we want to collaborate with teams that serve markets of all sizes.

Q: If I take Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, can I take Field Course: Advanced Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care (Q3Q4)? Do I have to take Field Course: Advanced Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care (Q3,Q4) too?

A: You can take just Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care(Q2) or only Field Course: Advanced Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care (Q3Q4); or both courses.

Cross Registration

We welcome cross-registrants. Any cross-registrant will need to have enrolled in Innovating in Health Care (Fall Q1) or be on a team with a student who has enrolled in that course.

Grading

Grading is based primarily on class participation, support of classmates, and quality of business plan, relative to that submitted in the prior Innovating in Health Care (Q1) class.

Students are reminded of the Class Absence and Remote Attendance Policy.

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