Magic Wand Initiative empowers clinicians to innovate solutions for unmet medical needs

Tools such as the Magic Wand Initiative can assist clinicians in identifying and understanding unmet medical needs, according to a study published in Archives of Dermatological Research.

Developed at Massachusetts General Hospital’s department of dermatology, the Magic Wand Initiative (MWI) aims to identify unmet clinical needs and allow clinicians to begin innovating solutions for those needs, as well as to enhance clinician-to-clinician dialogue.

“Most clinicians pursued a career in medicine to help patients with not only the knowledge obtained through education and training, but also by contributing to new knowledge through research and innovation,” the study authors wrote. “The MWI is a quality improvement program designed to provide clinicians with education, training and connection with research faculty to engage and lead problem-based innovation.”

Physicians were asked to participate in brainstorming sessions and identify and record medical issues they regularly feel frustrated by and passionate about changing.

These sessions were broken down into smaller groups in which participants spent time to understand the issues and identify practical and possible solutions.

An initial brainstorming session identified 30 unmet medical needs. Eight of those are actively being pursued by clinicians: identifying better objective diagnostic tools for cellulitis; point-of-care diagnostic device for Kaposi’s sarcoma; better therapy for skin barrier dysfunction; long-lasting therapy for itch and pain; longer-lasting sunscreen; and more effective therapy for onychomycosis and warts.

Three of these problems have since progressed to pilot human studies for new devices, the study said.

“Clinicians are uniquely poised to identify and understand unmet medical needs that their patients face. To increase clinician engagement in problem-based research and innovation, they must be empowered and provided with the tools and training they need to solve those unmet needs,” the authors wrote. “Using this Magic Wand program with defined strategy and process, we have demonstrated that when empowered and given the opportunity to engage and lead problem-based innovation, clinicians can bring much-needed new solutions to their patients.”