Thomas Jefferson University has a design program *inside* an old bank vault

Opened late last year inside in the Second Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, The Health Design Lab @ JeffInnovation (housed inside an actual bank vault) is Thomas Jefferson University’s attempt to bring the makerspace ethos into the healthcare space.

Inside its reinforced steel walls is an adaptable space for prototyping and collaborative work around healthcare. The JeffDESIGN program, a design certificate program mixing creative problem-solving and traditional medicinal curriculum, also operates out of the space.

In the second episode of his online video series, David Hindin – the “YouTubing doctor” – went inside the vault to get a close look at how the space is mixing 3-D printing and mapping tools with traditional healthcare practices.

New YouTube episode with @BonKu and @theEDpharmacist, at the amazing @JeffersonUniv space! Check it out: https://t.co/b3HXtlZtVK #medtech

— David Hindin, M.D. (@DavidHindin) November 7, 2017

“Space is powerful and it changes the way you think,” said Robert Pugliese, associate director of JeffDESIGN, in the video. “Everybody in the academic environment is so used to these big stadium-style rooms where you have one person in the middle of the room and everybody else is supposed to be quiet and take notes. You start to realize that that’s not an environment that’s conducive to creative thought.”

Here’s the five-minute vid, which is Episode 2 of the series Why Your Doctor Should Daydream: