Teaching Team

University of Miami Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Bioengineering, Lee Kaplan, MD
Visiting Lecturer Ben Creo, MDiv
Executive Fellow Brian Walker, MPH, PHD in women’ health

Overview and Requirements

Field Course: Advanced Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, Q3Q4 welcomes both students who have taken Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, Q2 and those who have not. If we reach the enrollment limit, preference will be given to students who took Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care but all enrollees must have taken Innovating in Health Care (Q1) .

This course enables you to fund your seed round, obtain non-dilutive funding, and/or enter in formal beta site commitments with highly likely customers.

In 2025, teams obtained $5 million in seed funding and won the HBS Shark Tank prize; Grand Prize of the Social Enterprise track at the New Ventures Competition; the iF Gold Design Award; and a Blavatnik Fellowship. Another team launched its innovation in thirty clinics.

Students can expect to:

1. Review their existing business, opportunities, and challenges, and develop strategies for sustained success, including testing various go-to-market strategies and their customer acquisition costs through extensive field work. The teaching team will do their best to assure that the relevant doors are opened to you.
2. Delineate your goals and activities for the next class meeting.
3. Present your progress to the class every two weeks, in PowerPoint, and ask for the specific feedback you desire. The teaching team will review your work as mentors.
4. Give feedback to other highly motivated student teams and specify what you learned from giving feedback.
5. Interact with expert lecturers on relevant topics such as IP strategies, VC funding, non-dilutive funding sources, etc.
6. Receive feedback and counsel from outside business advisors, who either advised you in the Fall Q1 course or are new connections to your team.
7. Practice their pitch presentations before seasoned investors in the relevant fields.

Who Should Enroll?

• Students who took Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, (Fall Q2) and who want to fund their project or enter into beta site agreements.
• Students who enrolled in Innovating in Health Care (Fall Q1) who did not take Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, (Fall Q2).

Course Content and Organization

The course meets every other week so that students can provide updates on their progress and receive feedback from the teaching team and their peers. During the weeks when we do not meet in-person, students are expected to make tangible progress on their business plans and seek advice from course mentors.

On occasion, invited guests address a topic of interest to the student-led startups, such as advice for raising a seed round, entering a beta site, successful presentations, or sharing lessons learned from a successful, experienced entrepreneur.

Course Deliverables

The main deliverable will be the team’s final presentation and the supporting slide deck. Intermediate PowerPoints will be presented throughout the course.

We will work to connect students with sources of funding, including angel, seed, venture, and strategic investors.

Short FAQ

Q: Can I take Field Course: Advanced Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, Spring Q3Q4 if I did not take Field Course: Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, (Fall Q2)? If I did?!

A: Yes, to both.

Q: Can I take Field Course: Advanced Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, Spring Q3Q4 if I am the only person involved in my business?

A: Yes, take Field Course: Advanced Business Plans for Innovating in Health Care, Spring Q3,Q4. We welcome teams of all sizes; including solo founders, multiple team members in the class, and teams with multiple members, only one of whom is required to have taken Innovating in Health Care in Q1.

Q: Can I take the class if I just have an idea, but I have not started yet?

A: Not a promising idea, as your classmates will be far along in the development of their business plan.

Q: What if I do not have an idea yet?

A: Not a promising idea, as your classmates will be far along in the development of their business plan.

Q: What if my business has modest goals?

A: We welcome business plans for businesses of all sizes.

Cross Registration

We welcome cross-registrants. Any cross-registrant will need to have enrolled in Innovating in Health Care (Fall Q1).

Grading

Grading is based primarily on class participation ,support of your classmates, and quality of business plan, relative to that submitted in the prior Innovating in Health Care class.

Students are reminded of the Class Absence and Remote Attendance Policy.

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