HCMG 890

I can safely conclude that HCMG 890 - a.k.a. Medical Device Seminar, is my favorite class of my first semester at Wharton. The picture to the left illustrates a transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedure. The Transcatheter Valve is possibly the most cutting edge piece of technology in interventional cardiology.

HCMG 890 meets once a week on Wednesday from 4:30pm - 7:30pm. During this time, we hear from various industry speakers on various medical device topics. The class has a good mix of science and business - in the end I am always more excited when the primary discussion is science, with some business mixed in.

The best thing about the class is the opportunity to have dinner with the speakers. So far, we have had entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, Medtronic VPs, medical device sales managers, medical device lobbying groups, etc. At these dinners, food, drink, conversation, and money flows freely. This class might be the best kept academic secret at Wharton.

There is an interesting conflict in the perception of medical devices. On the one hand, these devices are exceedingly simple - what are clips, stents, and catheters but clips, barbed wire, and tubes? Yet they cost tremendous sums of money, which insurance companies pay. Ultimately, slight differences in the geometries and materials of these products can have slight differences in clinical effectiveness. But this industry persists on slight differences. Because, in the end, how much would you pay to mitigate adverse reactions (like death) by 3%, or to increase blood flow by 2%? Apparently you would pay a lot (but that number is probably coming down).

Until we can elegantly solve these problems before they start using gene therapy, we'll have a need for devices.

If these devices excite you, check out some of the clips below. If they don't excite you, check out these clips anyway, and you might get excited:

Mitral Clip:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2908701/mitra_clip/

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkgEf1EvRGc