APPLIED LEARNING

Innovation doesn’t stop at ideas; it moves into action. The Applied Learning Pillar provides opportunities to do just that through hands-on experiences (building skills, testing solutions, and producing tangible outcomes that reflect real-world innovation).

Through an incubator, case competitions, and community-based projects, students work alongside faculty and partners to prototype technologies, validate unmet needs, and pilot solutions inside real healthcare environments. This is where theory meets practice, and where future physician-innovators learn how to design, fail, refine, and ultimately create impact beyond the classroom.

INCUBATOR

The EIG Incubator is where raw ideas become real projects. We support students, clinicians, and collaborators across the health system as they move from problem discovery to early solution building. Through structured sprints, mentorship from faculty and industry advisors, and access to translational resources, teams test assumptions, prototype solutions, and prepare for real-world deployment. Whether you’re exploring digital health, biotech, medical devices, or systems innovation, the incubator provides the structure and support to turn curiosity into impact.

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

— Albert Einstein

RISE CASE COMPETITION

  • RISE (Reimagining Interdisciplinary Social Entrepreneurship) is EIG’s flagship case competition focused on tackling critical challenges affecting Bronx populations. Multidisciplinary teams tackle a live challenge defined in partnership with community organizations working on the ground, build a solution framework, and pitch to judges across medicine, industry, and community leaders.

  • Open to medical students, graduate students, residents, engineers, designers, advocates, and anyone across the health system with an interest in innovation. No prior experience required.

  • Teams are given a real-world social, clinical, or health systems challenge and work through problem definition, market analysis, solution design, budget, and timeline.

  • Hands-on innovation experience, mentorship from faculty and community leaders, pitch training, exposure to public health and social entrepreneurship ecosystems, and cash prizes.

  • Teams or individuals can apply through the EIG website when registration opens. Selected participants will be matched into teams and onboarded before the competition begins.