SCS Dragons' Den success

Professor Morand, Professor Smith and Professor Loh

More than 70 staff from the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health (SCS) and medical students from Years 3, 4 and 5 attended a highly successful Dragons’ Den at MHTP last month.

Originally a Japanese reality television show featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists, the SCS competition invited all current medical students to submit viable project ideas they believed would lead to innovations in curriculum delivery for the medical program at SCS.

Nine finalists, chosen by a panel of SCS academic and professional staff pitched their ideas to a panel of ‘Dragons’ – Professor Eric Morand, Professor Michelle Leech, Professor Julian Smith, Professor Erwin Loh and Dr Eugene Fredericks in the Translational Research Facility (TRF). 

“We wanted to engage our medical students while enabling them to assist us enhance the student experience at SCS,” said Clinical Dean Dr Claire Dendle.

“The SCS Dragons—Professor Morand, Professor Leech, Professor Smith, Associate Professor Sally Ayoub and Professor Loh—provided insightful and humorous feedback while questioning the validity of the project ideas.”

Staff and students commented on the forum as being an ideal opportunity for students to shine while presenting their ideas to peers and mentors.

“The ideas presented will have an immediate and positive impact on both our School and students,” said Dr Dendle.

The winning team with A/Prof Ayoub

The winners on the night were:

1^st place- Lewis Fry, Marcus Davenport and Hector Thomson

Runner up- Masad Alfayadh (Mental Health at SCS)

Students’ Choice Award- David Liu (Varpedia)

"Hector, Lewis and I are big advocates for free open access medical education (FOAMed)," said winning student Marcus Davenport. 

"Having studied together for three years now, we wanted to share our experience so that other medical students may benefit from some of the tips and tricks we have picked up along the way."

Marcus said the Dragons' Den had exceeded their expectations and the competition was a great opportunity to practise a formal presentation.

The event organisers would like to thank and acknowledge the extreme generosity of Café Nesso, who donated all catering for the event.

Dr Dendle said the quality of Café Nesso’s catering was absolutely outstanding and everyone involved is very grateful for their support.

Read more about Café Nesso here.