MAFAR4100 Innovation within Healthcare Course description

Language of instruction: English (Norwegian if no English-speaking students have registered for the course)

This course is an introduction to innovation that intends to inspire innovative thinking and provide the students with an overview of the tools they can use in innovation processes. The students will acquire an understanding of what is required to succeed with an innovation project.

The students will learn to develop and test a value proposition, and they will learn how to solve a problem in the field of health using new solutions. The course covers both commercial and non-commercial innovation, and aims to contribute to an understanding of innovation and innovation culture.

The student must have been admitted to the Master’s Degree Programme in Health Sciences.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge

The student  

• can explain theories and methodologies related to innovation processes, innovation leadership and innovation strategy 
• can evaluate the significance of and approaches to user participation
• can explain intellectual property rights (patents/trademarks/secrecy etc.), including how this relates to publishing and academic research
• can explain the commercialisation processes for commercial innovation, including the development of a business plan, and the processes for the realisation and dissemination of non-commercial innovation
• can describe funding strategies and sources
• can identify and describe suitable professional tools and processes for different innovation projects

Skills 

The student 

• can use basic skills to carry out needs analyses, to understand the issues at hand and develop a value proposition
• can apply thought processes for product and service innovation
• can validate innovation ideas through contact with customers/users/payers and others
• can apply knowledge of intellectual property rights to different innovation projects and select a suitable strategy
• can present innovation projects to different target groups (an effective pitch)
• can plan an innovation project under supervision

General competence  

The student 

• can identify innovation potential in their own academic field/area of application
• can contribute to interdisciplinary teamwork and can give and receive feedback
• can explain innovation processes in the field of health 
• can communicate independent work and masters the terminology used in the field 
• can contribute with new ideas and innovation relevant to health

The course will use varied, student-active work methods. Work and teaching methods comprise a combination of lectures on theory, group work and testing of experiences with the supervisor, as well as inspirational lectures by parties with experience of real-life innovation projects. The students will gain experience of team-based work. The interdisciplinary composition of the groups is a precondition for success, and the groups must work together throughout the course. Group size of four to five students. After an introduction to needs analysis theory, each student must submit a proposition for an innovation idea/problem to be used in the group work. There will be a vote on which cases will form the basis for the group's work, or, alternatively, the cases will be established after a workshop at the start of the course. The groups must find external customers/parties/stakeholders who they can have a dialogue with during the course. Activities will vary between theory review, group work and practical testing of the theory. At the end of the course, a sales pitch designed to address a relevant target group (e.g. hospital management, investors, customers etc.) will be presented to fellow students, lecturers and examiners, and a project plan/business plan must be submitted.

The following must have been approved in order for the student to take the examination: 

• An individual multiple choice test on understanding of theoretical concepts

A combined assessment comprising: 

1. A project examination in groups of four to five students in the form of a written assignment. A written project plan/business plan and a sales pitch is submitted by the group, and must be passed before the students can take the oral examination. The size of the assignment will depend on the nature of the project. The plan must be written in Norwegian or English.
2. Oral examination in groups, up to 30 min. The group presents its innovation project, and the form of presentation is chosen based on the project, and on given criteria relating to the form of the project. The assessment is based on the execution and application of methods, not on whether the innovation idea turns out to be viable or not. Hypotheses must be described. Students can take the oral examination in either English or Norwegian.

The written assignment must be awarded a pass grade in order for the students to take the oral examination. The final grade is set after the oral examination. The final assessment is pass/fail.

Resit examination: If the student fails the written assignment, he/she will be given one (1) opportunity to submit a reworked version. If the student fails the oral assessment, both parts of the examination must be retaken.

Students can appeal the grade awarded for the written part of the examination.

If the course is taught in English, students can also choose to write/conduct the examination in a Scandinavian language (Norwegian, Swedish or Danish).

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with in the written part of the examination. The students can bring a copy of their written assignment to the oral examination.

Pass/fail.

All examinations are assessed by an internal and an external examiner.

None.