How to integrate the p-20 innovation and entrepreneurship talent pipeline?

Innovation and entrepreneurship education and training now starts in elementary school and continues in high school as part of career and technical education (CTE) tracks. Centers for innovation and entrepreneurship are as common on college campuses as climbing walls. Sickcare professional schools, like medical schools, need to create innovation and entrepreneurship programs to take the baton and pass them on to residency and fellowship training programs.

That's a long pipeline with lots of leaks along the way. So what are some solutions?

1. Define entrepreneurship as more that just creating startups
2. Emphasize the emotional intelligence and problem solving learning objectives
3. Create spaces conducive to team based creativity, problem seeking and problem solving
4. Use project based and experiential learning techniques
5. Invigorate career and technical education programs with industry partner apprenticeship and internship experiences
6. Introduce premed innovation and entrepreneurship programs to sickcare professional school opportunities sooner
7. Offer medical students non-clinical career development opportunities
8. Create mentorship and networking activities throughout the pipeline
9. Include data science and literacy and digital marketing in the curriculum
10. Offer personal financial planning and entrepreneurial finance throughout the curriculum
11. Plug the diversity holes
12. Address the social determinants of student success
13. Help students resolve the ethical dilemmas confronting entrepreneurs. Teaching Therantology might be a good start.
14. Supplement in class work with online resources and certificates.

The innovation and entrepreneurship talent chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Now, there are many broken links. Find a problem and be the solution using a VAST business model.. That's what entrepreneurs do. Practice what you teach.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs