Concept & History

Healthcare Innovation Challenge sets out to empower health professionals to adopt an interdisciplinary mindset in their work to improve human health. 

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We believe that acknowledging our individual limitations,

leveraging our colleagues’ diverse skill sets and working with

them collaboratively can improve the current dismal state of

American healthcare. 

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The competition was founded by three first-year medical students

(Jeff Woods, Niharika Neela, and Luciano Posada) from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School. The idea was born out of their prior experience

with the healthcare system and recognition that successful patient care required much

more than science.

To these students, it became apparent that inter-professional training was limited, but luckily not absent. They decided to create a case competition/hackathon-style event where students could be on teams with students from other healthcare professions working on a common problem. With help from the mentors and the interprofessional education office, they were able to successfully hold the first UT Health Healthcare Innovation Challenge in April 2019.