UDEM Doctorate Aims to Transform Medicine Through Leadership and Innovation

• The Universidad de Monterrey has launched the Doctorate in Medicine and Innovation, which joins UDEM Health, the ecosystem that integrates education, clinical care, and research.

Defined as a pioneering graduate program with a distinctive focus on transformative leadership and the application of science to generate concrete solutions in health care, the Doctorate in Medicine and Innovation officially opened this fall 2025.

The program stands out for its innovation-centered approach, with a mission to generate solutions that offer tangible benefits to the community. This model seeks to train leaders capable of directing multidisciplinary teams and transforming health environments, ensuring that their projects have real social impact.

According to Jorge Luis García Macías, dean of the School of Medicine, the new doctoral program spans six semesters and strengthens the academic offerings within UDEM Health—UDEM’s ecosystem that coordinates education, clinical operations, and research at both local and international levels. This framework ensures that academic programs and disciplinary areas operate in an integrated manner.

Through UDEM Health, the University reaffirms its commitment to building a future in which community Well-being is a priority, offering care grounded in Generosity, Humanity, and profound respect for every person’s Dignity, always aligned with its Catholic inspiration.

The goal is for the doctorate to have a social impact through what we live: openness, service, and humanism. That is the core purpose of the program,” emphasized the dean.

The inaugural cohort includes two students—professionals with extensive experience and leadership trajectories aligned with the profile sought for the program.

Aimed at health professionals from medicine and related fields, the doctorate seeks candidates with a master’s degree in health sciences and demonstrated experience in innovation.

“We are looking for profiles oriented toward leadership positions”, noted García Macías, “who truly embody or have the potential to embody innovation, because that is the distinctive value of this program”.

Unlike other doctoral programs in the region that focus primarily on basic science, this program incorporates innovation and leadership as guiding principles. Its vision is to develop research processes with a broader, more impactful approach.

“Our emphasis is on innovation and leadership as the turning points that guide research”, the dean explained. “The idea is to prepare graduates to direct multidisciplinary teams, transform environments, and make decisions that increase efficiency”.

The program will train its professionals in leadership and innovation skills during the first semesters. Parallel to this process, work will be done on developing advanced research skills.

“The doctorate strengthens and promotes new research abilities, advanced skills needed to conduct robust research on health-related topics,” the dean noted.

The program includes three declared lines of research. The first focuses on the care of high-prevalence diseases, those that cause high rates of morbidity and mortality.

“And of course, those that generate the highest costs for health institutions. That is why leadership and innovation are crucial, because the goal is for the solutions generated to truly permeate the health industry,” he emphasized.

The second line, Healthy Living, centers on prevention through the use of technology and education to foster healthier communities.

“And the last line focuses on innovation and technology in health,” the dean added, “aimed at leveraging available resources, new technologies, and even artificial intelligence”.

He noted that with the creation of the Doctorate in Medicine and Innovation, the School of Medicine and UDEM become institutions that generate original knowledge. The purpose of the program is for applied innovation to produce measurable benefits in the health sector.

“The idea is to position UDEM’s health education as a leading model nationally and internationally, one that promotes knowledge, academia, and science”, García Macías said.

The program already has international collaborations, including projects with King’s College London in the United Kingdom and the University of Notre Dame in the United States, alongside experts from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

García Macías affirmed that this is considered “a pioneering and flexible program in the region because, unlike other doctorates in Medicine and Clinical Sciences, ours offers a virtual, flexible format with a humanistic approach”.