Today’s show is all about EnMed, an MD/MS in engineering program to be offered by Texas A&M University’s College of Medicine and College of Engineering in conjunction with Houston Methodist Hospital. The program aims to teach physicians how to design technology to solve complex problems in medicine.

Our guest is Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor for engineering for The Texas A&M University System and dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. Dr. Banks has had a very distinguished career in academia. Today, as vice-chancellor, Dr. Banks oversees the coordination and collaboration among the engineering, academic and research programs at seven universities throughout the A&M System. As dean of the Dwight Look College of Engineering, she leads one of the largest engineering schools in the country, with more than 16,900 students and 500 faculty.

What is EnMed? [2:00]

It’s an integrated program. We often think of engineering education in a traditional sense. However, as we move towards a healthcare that’s more efficient and effective, I believe the transformation of healthcare will come through technology development.

New technology in medical care is an important part of the healthcare of the future. We decided it was time to create a program that integrated design of technology into the medical program.

Is the focus on biotech, robotics, or improving prevention/delivery of care? [3:55]

All of the above. When we talk about engineering, people often think of new devices, but processes and systems are also important. The focus is on innovation: how to improve healthcare and healthcare delivery.

Students can move from the bedside to the makerspace, and develop new technologies or software. They’ll also work with the office of technology and commercialization. Allowing the healthcare providers to come up with the new ideas will move the products to market (and impact patients) much faster.

What is the program structure? [6:05]

We require an undergraduate degree in engineering or computer science – we want students to have a foundation in design knowledge. Then they move through the med school curriculum. But med school is very different: it’s an integrated med school curriculum (integrated with engineering/mathematics concepts).

There will be 50 students a year.

What is the entrepreneurial part of this program? [7:40]

It’s very important – a unique feature of the EnMed program. Entrepreneurship and innovation is critical.

Who better to move healthcare into the future than people working in healthcare? This is where the new ideas and technologies will arise, and the entrepreneurial aspect will enable that to come to reality.

We will be incorporating business training. And students will not be working in isolation: we’ll be bringing in students from the business school, PhD students in engineering, as well as nurses (who use technology). So the process will involve far more than the 50 students in the program.

What does “translational” mean in the context of your program’s emphasis on “innovative translational research”? [10:40]

It’s the idea of moving ideas from the lab (or clinical) setting into the marketplace/application. Often, researchers work in isolation, and the process of translating these concepts takes a very long time.

If we can have a model where the engineers are the physic...