Module overview
This module provides you with a grounding in the skills needed to scope, plan, and develop innovative new medical technologies which address real-world healthcare needs and have the realistic potential to lead to a fully developed technology. The focus will be on the global health context, particularly focused on healthcare needs in low- middle-income countries (LMIC). Students will prepare for an overseas placement, spending time in the UK learning about global health systems, context, resources and challenges in relation to medical innovation.
During the last 5 weeks of the module, students will be immersed in a clinical placement in an LMIC. Three days per week students will gain experience and expertise of the in-country healthcare pathway from referral and admission to discharge and follow up within a clinical facility. One day per week students will spend time exploring local environments and communities, resources, and external organisations to understand the application of medical technology in the local context. One day per week there will be time for local seminars, consolidation of learning and peer-to-peer synthesis within each group as an opportunity to generate ideas for the development of medical technology that is based on unmet need and appropriate to a low resource setting.