27 Nov 2017 Entrepreneurship Boot Camp planned

The Conductor, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and BioVentures recently announced plans to host the Health Sciences Entrepreneurship Boot Camp, a camp for undergraduate students around the state. 

In its second year, the camp creates entrepreneurial and interactive learning opportunities for students, and guides them through entrepreneurial processes of starting and funding a health sciences venture with their peers.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the Conductor to offer this camp for the second year,” said Nancy Gray, president of BioVentures. “This camp is integral in creating a statewide, biomedical research infrastructure in Arkansas, and expands the state’s health sciences entrepreneurial network.”

The Boot Camp is an intensive, weeklong program during which students identify problems or opportunities in healthcare, and then work in interdisciplinary student teams to formulate new venture ideas, talk to potential customers, meet with influential faculty and work closely with mentors from the healthcare industry. The boot camp coaches the teams through everything from entity filing and intellectual property to creating a sustainable entrepreneurial team.

“This camp is emblematic of the Conductor’s mission to foster and nourish entrepreneurial talent within our state,” said Jeff Standridge, chief catalyst for the Conductor. “This camp creates opportunities to show students that there are viable career paths to entrepreneurship, and to introduce them to the vast experts and resources in the state’s health sciences.”

In 2017, the camp’s inaugural cohort had representation from 10 colleges and universities, empowering students from around the state with the knowledge and tools they need to think critically, learn entrepreneurial principles and launch innovative ventures. Additionally, the camp offers leadership, team-building and other recreational experiences in Conway.

“One of the outstanding outcomes of this camp is the opportunity it gives students to push their limits in a deep, meaningful way,” said Kim Lane, chief operating officer of the Conductor. “Not only are they building their social networks with other college students, they are creating a framework that reaches all corners of the state, and taking their entrepreneurial knowledge and skills back to their hometowns — from north Arkansas to the Delta.”

The residential boot camp will be held May 20-25 at the University of Central Arkansas. The camp is all-expenses-paid for accepted students, and is funded through UAMS, BioVentures and the Conductor. Eligible students must have completed their sophomore year of college. Space permitting, there will spots available for immediate graduates and graduate students.

Candidates may apply at https://goo.gl/forms/6lqHQUeCTe25991b2. The early consideration deadline for the Camp is Friday, Feb. 23. All other applications are due by Friday, March 23.

To learn more about the Health Sciences Entrepreneurship Boot Camp, watch this video, and hear the student testimonies from the 2017 Camp here.