J Med Syst (2015) 39:60 DOI 10.1007/s10916-015-0247-x
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Using a Hackathon for Interprofessional Health Education Opportunities Timothy Dy Aungst 1
Received: 3 March 2015 / Accepted: 15 March 2015 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
It was with great interest when I read Youm & Weichmann’s recent article about the Med AppJam hosted at UC Irvine School of Medicine, in light of my own recent experience at a similar event [1]. The concept of gathering individuals into teams to create a new product has become of interest across the country. These so called ‘Hackathons’ often at times find a home for the weekend on the campus of a University where participants form teams seeking to create a product centered around a theme or problem proposed by the organizers. While these hackathons tend to be heavily geared towards those in the tech field, they are slowly finding a niche in the medical community. Recently I had the privilege to attend the MedStart Innovation Challenge, which is a weekend hackathon hosted by the Tufts School of Medicine in conjunction with their MD/MBA program [2]. MedStart has been around since 2013, when it was developed with the mindset of bringing together multiple disciplines across the span of healthcare to work together in teams in conjunction with those in business, design, and technology developers. The hackathon works with multiple sponsors in the healthcare tech field to help donate funds, ideas, and mentor. This year’s hackathon was focused on rethinking medical education and how to integrate new technology developments, such as wearables and software packages. On hand were Ocullus Rifts, Leap Motions, Myo Armbands, and Pebble Smartwatches for teams to utilize and incorporate into the their ideas. Timothy Aungst holds a PharmD degree at MCPHS University. This article is part of the Topical Collection on Education & Training. * Timothy Dy Aungst [email protected] 1
MCPHS University, Worcester, MA, USA
The event was conducted over a course of three days at Tufts School of Medicine. The first day started in the evening where the premise of the hackathon was laid out and, more specifically, the problem to be addressed was presented, which was namely medical education. The following day involved speakers in the healthcare tech industry that shared their experiences and an introduction to the event overall. Individuals made pitches on ideas or products they felt could address areas that medical education could be innovated, and then teams were individually formed around promising ideas. After teams were formed, they then had 48 h to work on their project, create a demo, and pitch their ideas at the end of the hackathon to a set of judges to be scored. Similar to the Med AppJam, MedStart focuses on the creation of new products in the healthcare environment by leveraging mobile technology (e.g. apps, wearables). The primary difference between both events is the longevity of time in which the hackathon takes place along with the structure. As Youm and Wiechmann’s article describes, the Med AppJam is a more structured event that has developed teams split between medical students and programming students, compared to the MedStart program that allows participants to form their own teams of different talents. Nonetheless, both events utilized a similar approach with getting sponsorship and industry support, utilizing faculty and other experts as mentors, and directing participants to create a product with a feasible business avenue. A key point that Youm and Weichmann touched upon that I feel is worth further discussion relates to the implication of using these hackathon events as a means for interprofessional education. By bringing together multiple specialties and backgrounds, the Med AppJam exposed medical students to other means of thinking and allowed them to gain digital literacy and knowledge on technology [1]. The Institute of Medicine has advocated for the incorporation of interprofessional education (IPE) into the health professions for many years, and
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the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Expert Panel released their report in 2011 outlining their thoughts on how to incorporate IPE into the curriculum along with target areas [3]. These areas focus on four core competency domains consisting of Values/Ethics for interprofessional practice, identifying roles/responsibilities, improving interprofessional communication, and developing teams and teamwork. Taking these competencies into consideration, hackathons may be a viable opportunity for IPE activities whereby students of multiple health disciplines can be brought together to address ongoing problems in healthcare. Hackathons by their nature foster teamwork and rely on clear, concise communication amongst members in order to bring the project to fruition. Coupling this with the success seen at the Med AppJam and Medstart using multiple disciplines, it is not a hard leap to deduce that students in multiple health professions could also be involved, instead of siloing these events in one core profession. Utilizing hackathons as a means of increasing IPE activities may be a fun and innovative way to engage students to learn and tackle problems together and meeting IPEC core competencies. I would like to see further development in this field along with research that
can ascertain whether this is a possible venue, and if these hackathons, while created to expose students to technology and create innovation, may in fact have another benefit that is yet untapped.
Compliance with Ethical Standards This letter does not contain clinical studies or patient data. Conflict of Interest The author declares that they have no conflict of interest.
References 1.
2. 3.
Youm, J., and Wiechmann, W., The Med AppJam: a model for an interprofessional student-centered mhealth app competition. J. Med. Syst. 39(3):216, 2015. About. tuftsmedstart.com. http://tuftsmedstart.com/about/. Accessed 28 February 2015. Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel. (2011). Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Using a Hackathon for Interprofessional Health Education Opportunities Timothy Dy Aungst 1
Received: 3 March 2015 / Accepted: 15 March 2015 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
It was with great interest when I read Youm & Weichmann’s recent article about the Med AppJam hosted at UC Irvine School of Medicine, in light of my own recent experience at a similar event [1]. The concept of gathering individuals into teams to create a new product has become of interest across the country. These so called ‘Hackathons’ often at times find a home for the weekend on the campus of a University where participants form teams seeking to create a product centered around a theme or problem proposed by the organizers. While these hackathons tend to be heavily geared towards those in the tech field, they are slowly finding a niche in the medical community. Recently I had the privilege to attend the MedStart Innovation Challenge, which is a weekend hackathon hosted by the Tufts School of Medicine in conjunction with their MD/MBA program [2]. MedStart has been around since 2013, when it was developed with the mindset of bringing together multiple disciplines across the span of healthcare to work together in teams in conjunction with those in business, design, and technology developers. The hackathon works with multiple sponsors in the healthcare tech field to help donate funds, ideas, and mentor. This year’s hackathon was focused on rethinking medical education and how to integrate new technology developments, such as wearables and software packages. On hand were Ocullus Rifts, Leap Motions, Myo Armbands, and Pebble Smartwatches for teams to utilize and incorporate into the their ideas. Timothy Aungst holds a PharmD degree at MCPHS University. This article is part of the Topical Collection on Education & Training. * Timothy Dy Aungst [email protected] 1
MCPHS University, Worcester, MA, USA
The event was conducted over a course of three days at Tufts School of Medicine. The first day started in the evening where the premise of the hackathon was laid out and, more specifically, the problem to be addressed was presented, which was namely medical education. The following day involved speakers in the healthcare tech industry that shared their experiences and an introduction to the event overall. Individuals made pitches on ideas or products they felt could address areas that medical education could be innovated, and then teams were individually formed around promising ideas. After teams were formed, they then had 48 h to work on their project, create a demo, and pitch their ideas at the end of the hackathon to a set of judges to be scored. Similar to the Med AppJam, MedStart focuses on the creation of new products in the healthcare environment by leveraging mobile technology (e.g. apps, wearables). The primary difference between both events is the longevity of time in which the hackathon takes place along with the structure. As Youm and Wiechmann’s article describes, the Med AppJam is a more structured event that has developed teams split between medical students and programming students, compared to the MedStart program that allows participants to form their own teams of different talents. Nonetheless, both events utilized a similar approach with getting sponsorship and industry support, utilizing faculty and other experts as mentors, and directing participants to create a product with a feasible business avenue. A key point that Youm and Weichmann touched upon that I feel is worth further discussion relates to the implication of using these hackathon events as a means for interprofessional education. By bringing together multiple specialties and backgrounds, the Med AppJam exposed medical students to other means of thinking and allowed them to gain digital literacy and knowledge on technology [1]. The Institute of Medicine has advocated for the incorporation of interprofessional education (IPE) into the health professions for many years, and
60
J Med Syst (2015) 39:60
Page 2 of 2
the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Expert Panel released their report in 2011 outlining their thoughts on how to incorporate IPE into the curriculum along with target areas [3]. These areas focus on four core competency domains consisting of Values/Ethics for interprofessional practice, identifying roles/responsibilities, improving interprofessional communication, and developing teams and teamwork. Taking these competencies into consideration, hackathons may be a viable opportunity for IPE activities whereby students of multiple health disciplines can be brought together to address ongoing problems in healthcare. Hackathons by their nature foster teamwork and rely on clear, concise communication amongst members in order to bring the project to fruition. Coupling this with the success seen at the Med AppJam and Medstart using multiple disciplines, it is not a hard leap to deduce that students in multiple health professions could also be involved, instead of siloing these events in one core profession. Utilizing hackathons as a means of increasing IPE activities may be a fun and innovative way to engage students to learn and tackle problems together and meeting IPEC core competencies. I would like to see further development in this field along with research that
can ascertain whether this is a possible venue, and if these hackathons, while created to expose students to technology and create innovation, may in fact have another benefit that is yet untapped.
Compliance with Ethical Standards This letter does not contain clinical studies or patient data. Conflict of Interest The author declares that they have no conflict of interest.
References 1.
2. 3.
Youm, J., and Wiechmann, W., The Med AppJam: a model for an interprofessional student-centered mhealth app competition. J. Med. Syst. 39(3):216, 2015. About. tuftsmedstart.com. http://tuftsmedstart.com/about/. Accessed 28 February 2015. Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel. (2011). Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.
