Technological advancement is rapidly driving change and creating new standards in both patient care and healthcare delivery. This acceleration has highlighted the need for development of leaders in digital healthcare transformation. Weill Cornell Emergency Medicine in partnership with Cornell Tech is pleased to announce the new Innovation Fellowship. This new fellowship will inspire, empower, and ensure emergency medicine physicians are equipped with the required knowledge and tools to be effective leaders in tech-driven healthcare transformation within their institutions.
The fellowship combines the core innovation mission of Weill Cornell Medicine’s Center for Virtual Care with the innovation, education and facilitation that is central to the mission of Cornell Tech to prepare clinicians to lead institutional change and to ground developments and partnerships in the clinical—specifically Emergency Medicine—space.
Fellows will acquire skills that are not part of traditional clinical training, including: product and process idea generation; market research; design thinking; medical design; product development; project management; business venture creation; regulatory awareness; intellectual property law and practice; knowledge of venture and private equity financing; knowledge of interfacing with startup and big tech; risk management; marketing; and clinical change management.
The one-year post-graduate, non-ACGME accredited training program will couple didactics in innovation and entrepreneurship with first-hand experience in working with early stage companies engaged in design thinking, prototyping, navigation of regulatory processes, intellectual property rights, and business strategy. Programs and partnerships will be chosen to allow rapid exposure to each of these areas while emphasizing the direct linkage to patients and clinical realities. The fellowship will also provide unique opportunities for engagement with carefully curated projects that will maximize exposure to the clinical/innovation/tech interface.
Academic
Fellows will complete coursework at both the Jacobs Institute Runway Program at Cornell Tech and the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Healthcare Leadership and Management (HLM) Program.
Fellows will begin their training as full participants in the Runway Program. During September, October and November, fellows will participate in immersive coursework and workshops focusing on identifying and evaluating product/market opportunities, developing customers, creating a startup strategy, and facing uncertainty among others. They will also attend entrepreneurship classes including on product management and special Startup Studio sessions that will feature interactions with Cornell Tech MBA, Engineering Master’s and LLM candidates. Fellows will also participate in Runway programming and events where guest practitioners, experts and serial entrepreneurs will lead sessions on various aspects of starting a tech company including company culture, pitching and public speaking, and fundraising. In addition, fellows will have access to dozens of healthcare entrepreneurs and mentors in rolling office hour sessions throughout the year. Finally, fellows will have opportunities to serve as subject matter experts working with or for one (or several) of the Runway companies.
For leadership development, Innovation fellows will train alongside the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Healthcare Leadership and Management (HLM) fellows, choosing 1-2 eCornell courses based on areas of perceived need. Innovation fellows will also join their HLM counterparts for didactic courses on ED clinical operations, health informatics, coding/billing, medicolegal/compliance, EM supply chain, EM staffing models and hospital flow.
Clinical
The fellow will work a total of 940 annual hours (20 hours per week) at Weill Cornell Emergency Departments with a reduced clinical load during the months of September, October and November during the period of intensive hybrid classwork at Cornell Tech.
Conferences
The department will reimburse $4,000 per year to support educational enrichment conferences.
Compensation
Annual salary will be at the PGY4 or PGY5 rate as is appropriate based on candidate experience.
Mentorship
An individual mentoring committee that includes clinical leaders from emergency medicine will be tailored to each fellow. In addition, the fellow will become part of the mentoring network of Cornell Tech’s Runway Program and will have the opportunity to seek guidance from innovation leaders across the Cornell Ithaca campus with a minimum of quarterly meetings.
Longitudinal Project
The fellow will complete at least one mentored project and will be expected to disseminate and present this work, through the traditional peer reviewed publication process or equivalent business community venue. Project opportunities will be identified and an action plan developed in partnership with the fellow and their interests and abilities.
Contact Us
Peter Greenwald, MD MS FACEP
Vice Chair Emergency Medicine Clinical Strategy and Innovation
peg9002@med.cornell.edu
Alex Fortenko, MD MPH
Emergency Medicine Director of Clinical Innovation
alf9065@med.cornell.edu
Sowmya Sanapala, MD
Instructor in Clinical Emergency Medicine
Fellow in Healthcare Leadership and Management
rvg9006@med.cornell.edu
How to Apply
To apply, please send a personal statement and Curriculum Vitae to alf9065@med.cornell.edu.
Mailing Address
New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical Center
Department of Emergency Medicine
525 E. 68th St., Box 179
New York, NY 10065
Office of the Chair
Emergency Medicine
525 E. 68th St., M-130
New York, NY 10065
(212) 746-0780
Residency Office
530 E. 70th St., M-127
New York, NY 10021
(212) 746-0892
may2004@med.cornell.edu
Research Office
525 E. 68th St., M-130
New York, NY 10065
EMResearch@med.cornell.edu
