A unique MD-PhD program designed to produce physicians who can use engineering know-how to solve medical problems enrolled its first student at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland this fall. The program is expected to eventually accept 70 to 80 students a year who will have training to become physician/ engineers. About 10 students a year are initially expected to be admitted to the program, which will take seven years to complete, according to university officials. Patrick Crago, who chairs the CWRU Department of Biomedical Engineering, says students will focus on the creation of novel devices or platform technologies for diagnosis and treatment of patients, rather than on basic biomedical science. "I have found no other MD-PhD program with a specific biomedical engineering focus," Crago says. The medical school will fund the physician training and research faculty members will support the dissertation phase with research grants until it...
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