Distinction-Social Entrepreneurship
Program Contacts
Program Director, Assistant Dean of Medical Innovation & Entrepreneurship | Director, Programs and Partnerships |
|---|---|
Maarten Rotman | Nicole Clark |
Overview
The Social Entrepreneurship (SE) Distinction is a nine-month program designed to empower medical students to create tangible, measurable social impact by developing innovative solutions to critical health challenges. Unique among all options in the Growth Year, the SE Distinction expects students to actively impact the lives of patients and families for good and consider and implement the minimum requirements for sustainable longevity of their projects while the learners themselves continue in their medical careers, i.e. creating an entrepreneurial basis for their social impact. Students will participate full-time in the SE Distinction and will be mentored by faculty and staff.
Benefits & Anticipated Outcomes
A key benefit for participating in this distinction is you will create real immediate impact in the Austin health and healthcare ecosystem and the impact you create will set you apart from others as you approach residency by boosting you as a future physician leader in nonprofit, for-profit, social enterprise and other community impact organizations.
As part of the SE Distinction, students will have two mentors – a Program Leadership mentor AND a UT Faculty or Industry mentor. As part of entry requirements into the SE Distinction, students should have an idea and/or area of focus for the SE Distinction and a Faculty or Industry mentor with subject matter expertise in that area. This is pre-work to be done in the MS2 year during clinical rotations. Mentors will work alongside students to help shape and refine the startup project or project within a local partner agency and advise on milestone projection and deliverables. Students will be mentored at the cadence they determine with their mentor (program leadership recommends at least once every 2 weeks).
This Distinction aims to benefit not only participating students and Dell Med’s impact and visibility, but also the health of Central Texans. Participating partner agencies will benefit from new expertise, capacity and connection to Dell Med faculty, staff and students. Most importantly, vulnerable populations may gain new, improved and/or more services.
Goal
The goal of the Social Entrepreneurship (SE) Distinction is to forge emerging physicians into community and social impact leaders. SE Distinction gives students the opportunity to complement their medical training and diversify their skillset with new knowledge and hands-on experience in social innovation and other professional development opportunities. Projects in the SE Distinction might include (but are not limited to) building and launching a nonprofit, for-profit with a social mission, hybrid model, or other social impact project aimed at improving health both in and beyond the clinic for vulnerable populations. Students can make a tangible, measurable impact on tough community issues while learning and practicing the skills of community leaders and social entrepreneurs.
Recognizing the complexity of tackling the social drivers of health and to offer maximum flexibility to students, the SE Distinction offers two options:
Social Entrepreneurship or Innovation: Students build, launch and grow a new non-profit, for-profit or hybrid program with a social mission alongside industry mentors as well as mentors across UT Dell Medical School and/or other relevant entities across UT. Previous projects, among others, include Good Apple Foods and Early Bird.
Capacity-Building: The SE Distinction places students within or alongside a local community health clinic, social services agency or other relevant public service organization to help implement high-level special projects that improve health beyond the clinic. The SE Distinction, in partnership with the community agencies, develops project options aligned with Dell Medical School Strategic Plan.
Potential areas of focus include health access, health communication, and health beyond the clinic walls, among others. Potential partners include, but are not limited to, Factor Health, the Department of Pediatrics, and the Department of Population Health at Dell Medical School. Program leadership works to match students with a project aligned with their interests, as well as faculty with relevant expertise to mentor students.
Objectives
Each student participating in the SE Distinction will lead at least one startup or innovation project as they learn the following over the course of the program:
Principles of program evaluation and impact measurement
How to leverage medical expertise and knowledge of the health system to build effective cross-sector partnerships
Gain experience validating markets, understanding competitors and unit economics, managing revenues and expenses, and navigating legal entity formation
Customer-centric approach to building programs that are sustainable long-term. Sustainable business model generation for social entrepreneurship initiatives.
Principles of person-centered design and hypothesis-driven startups
How to build and lead effective teams
Organizational planning and development
How to effectively communicate (written and verbally) with various stakeholders such as potential funders, partners, customers, policymakers, academia, clients and more
Fundraising, including best practices in pursuing angel donors, foundation grants and grassroots campaigns
Tuition and Fees
There are no additional tuition or fees associated with this distinction.
Apply to the Distinction
Application Materials & Timeline
Due to the requirement to select an area of interest and a subject matter expert mentor prior to the start of the program, interested students should reach out early to discuss their project ideas and eligibility. Email DMS-SocialEntrepreneurshipMS3@austin.utexas.edu during your MS1 or MS2 year to begin the conversation.
Application Timeline: Applications open mid-September and close the first week of March.
Approval Process: Applications will be reviewed by the advisory committee, with final decisions communicated by April 30th.
Program Start: The nine-month Distinction begins on the first day of UT Austin’s fall semester.
FAQs:
How many students are you willing to accept?
A maximum of six students.
How will students apply? What is the application review/vetting process like?
Students will submit an online application, included below, and complete an interview with the Distinction’s Director.
Distinction applications open mid-September and close the first week of March. All applications for the SE Distinction will be approved on or before April 30th by the Distinction’s advisory committee. All students will begin their nine-month Distinction on the first day of UT Austin’s fall semester.
Application Form:
APPLY HERE: https://forms.office.com/r/pZNATBaYHQ
THIS APPLICATION is due by the end of the first week in March.
Before submitting an application, please set up a time to discuss your interest in the program by emailing DMS-SocialEntrepreneurshipMS3@austin.utexas.edu.
Milestones & Workload
Year | Month | Activity |
MS2 | September - February | Meet with program representatives and attend Distinction presentation to see if the program is a good fit. If so, students should spend this time developing their project idea. |
MS2 | December - February | Work on application, interview with Distinction Director |
MS2 | By the end of January | SE recruits community partners for capacity-building option, and works with them to identify special projects for the following academic year |
MS2 | By end of the first week of March | Completed application, interviewed by Distinction Director |
MS2 | April 30 | Applications approved by the Distinction’s advisory committee |
MS2 | Around last Intersession | Student(s) selected for Distinction report out to DMS Distinction Oversight committee in Intersession on goals for year 3, and what led the student(s) to select this Distinction. |
MS2-MS3 | June - August | Meet with Distinction Director and staff to begin refining the project plan that maps out deliverables and timelines for the year, due in September. |
MS3 | Monthly | At least one SE objective is taught to students each month on a set schedule shared with students at the beginning of their year. A few of the months will be “elective months” during which students can choose from topics taught in other courses offered by The Impact Factory (e.g., “Civic Entrepreneurship”, “Impact Corps”, etc.). Some objectives have deliverables students will submit. For example, students will write a blog post or opinion editorial as part of their learning on how to write persuasively to diverse audiences. Students could also choose to audit courses relevant to skills they are looking to build; The Impact Factory has built partnerships with professors at diverse colleges at UT Austin, many of whom are Impact Fellows, offering relevant courses. |
MS3 | Late April or early May | Discovery & Inquiry Symposium presentation |