SimPat - an AI simulated patient platform for medical students. Hear from David in our 2023 Startup Summer Accelerator. Image Startup name: SimPat Founder: David Bourne School: current student in Edinburgh Medical School Three words to describe your entrepreneurial journey: Exciting. Challenging. Rollercoaster How did you come up with the idea? As a medical student in my clinical years, I have experienced the limitations and challenges associated with traditional methods of preparing for practical examinations like OSCEs. With the emergence of the AI revolution, I realised the future where lifelike patient simulations revolutionise medical education and practice will soon be here. Recognising the opportunity and feeling well positioned in my career to take on this challenge, I decided to go for it and try and lead the development of an innovative online platform for other medical students. What is the idea? Our vision is to develop an innovative platform that leverages artificial intelligence to provide medical students with immersive and realistic patient simulations, alongside the largest collection of OSCE patient cases available globally. By combining cutting-edge large language model AI, clinical knowledge and an interactive user interface, SimPat aims to empower medical students with practical skills, enhance their clinical reasoning abilities and improve their overall learning experience. What real-world challenge do you want to address? At SimPat our aim is to address the real-world challenge of improving medical education and bridging the gap between theory and practice. We want to benefit medical students by providing them with an innovative platform that offers realistic patient simulations and enhances their confidence, clinical skills and decision-making abilities. By leveraging AI technology, we aim to make a significant impact by offering accessible, cost-effective and time-efficient educational tools. Our goal is to empower medical students, prepare them for real-world scenarios and ultimately contribute to the delivery of high-quality patient care in healthcare systems. What motivates you as an entrepreneur? I am motivated by the exciting possibilities that the AI revolution holds for medicine. Being a medical student during this transformative time allows me to witness firsthand the potential of AI in shaping the future of healthcare throughout my career. I am humbled by the opportunity to be in the right place at the right time, surrounded by supportive mentors and institutions that encourage innovation. With this privilege, I feel a sense of responsibility to utilise my knowledge and skills to try and contribute to the positive impact of AI in medical education. What role has Edinburgh Innovations played in your entrepreneurial journey? Edinburgh Innovations has played a pivotal role in supporting my entrepreneurial journey. The grant money I received has enabled me to fully dedicate my time and effort to SimPat over the summer, driving its development. Being part of the Startup Summer Accelerator cohort has connected me with a talented group of fellow entrepreneurs, fostering a collaborative environment. The expertise, industry knowledge, mentorship and support offered has also been instrumental in guiding my startup’s growth. What’s next? Further expanding the platform’s capabilities and reach. We will focus on full web development to enhance user experience, AI integration and scalability. We aim to establish strong partnerships with medical institutions to gain clinical credibility and collaborate on developing and validating the AI driven simulations. Our initial goal is to also leverage AI technology to create the largest collection of OSCE cases worldwide, providing medical students with a comprehensive and diverse learning resource. Furthermore, we plan to prepare for the full commercialization of SimPat, targeting all UK medical students within the next academic year. The expertise, industry knowledge, mentorship and support offered [by Edinburgh Innovations] has also been instrumental in guiding my startup’s growth. David Bourne David is taking part in the Edinburgh Earth Initiative sponsored Startup Summer Accelerator 2023. Find out more about this programme now This article was published on 2024-07-01
