March 12, 2010
CONTACT: Tory Olson, 515-271-1834, tory.olson@drake.edu
DRAKE PHARMACY STUDENTS COMPETE IN ENTREPRENEUR COMPETITION
Drake University students in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences recently participated in the 4th annual Drake’s Next Top Entrepreneur Competition, which challenged students to show their creativity and innovation to solve health care-related problems.
The event was part of Entrepreneurship Week USA and was hosted by Drake’s DELTA Rx Institute.
The competition was split into three rounds, held on campus Feb. 19, 21 and 26, with top performers advancing to the next round. Two to four judges representing the pharmacy, business and health care sectors judged each round in the following format:
• First round: a three-minute presentation of a health care idea.
• Second round: a three-minute presentation of an impromptu solution to a health care problem.
• Third round: a 15-minute presentation of a business plan for a new health care endeavor.
“This annual event provides an opportunity for students to showcase their creativity, innovation, problem-solving and presentation skills as they share their ideas to solve health care-related problems,” said Renae Chesnut, associate dean for academic and student affairs and a member of the DELTA Rx Institute team.
“This competition may spur the development of future products and/or services that can provide benefits to patients, health care providers and society at large,” she added.
The top three winners won cash prizes of $1,500, $1,000 and $500, respectively. Taylor Post (P3), Andrew Roberts (P3), Allen Frazier (P3), and Jason Salton (P3) won first place.
The team’s idea was a product developed as a way to combat childhood obesity and excessive video game use. “Fit or Miss,” has two components: a small, discrete pedometer and accompanying software application downloaded to video game systems and computers. Before a child could use his or her video game system, he or she has to complete a certain amount of activity, measured by the pedometer.
The second place team of Andrew North (P2) and Elizabeth Marks (P3) presented Comprehensive Medical Profile (CMP).
CMP will address the problem of the lack of a single item that would contain a full record of a patient’s medical history including: prescription medications, disease states, surgeries, vaccines, blood type, allergies and reaction, pseudoephedrine purchases and emergency contact information.
Katherine McDonald (P3) took third place with “Canines and Kids,” a program where an obese child is matched with canine from an animal shelter and encouraged to spend time playing with the pet. The program would combat two problems: increasing childhood obesity and the increasing number of canines in animal shelters.
Other finalists included Jordan Ruestman (P3) and Tori Erxleben (P3) with “Treatment by Color” and Andrew Kehrberg (P3), Ryan Nimtz (P3), and Matthew Wolf with “TeleMed.”
The competition was supported by funding from Wal-Mart.
For more information, contact Renae Chesnut at renae.chesnut@drake.edu.