TLDR: Texas State University has partnered with MINES Saint-Étienne, a prestigious French engineering school, to introduce the SHIFT (Shaping Healthcare Innovation for the Future of Technology) Program. This 18-day international summer school will educate students on critical topics in digital health, including AI, interoperability, and cybersecurity, aiming to address global healthcare challenges. The program, supported by a three-year grant, offers an immersive experience in France with applications opening in October and closing in January 2026.
Texas State University (TXST) has officially announced a significant collaboration with MINES Saint-Étienne, a renowned French graduate engineering school and research institute established in 1816. This partnership marks the launch of the SHIFT (Shaping Healthcare Innovation for the Future of Technology) Program, an International Digital Health Summer School designed to equip students with essential knowledge and skills in the evolving landscape of digital healthcare.
The SHIFT Program is an intensive 18-day, three-hour international course that delves into a comprehensive array of topics crucial for modern healthcare. These include interoperability, health, artificial intelligence (AI), digital literacy, social responsibility, ethics and governance, data quality, collection and use, project management, and cybersecurity. The curriculum is structured to provide students with a deep understanding of the challenges in healthcare that are prevalent across the U.S. and other nations.
Managed by TXST’s Education Abroad program, the initiative is supported by a three-year grant, underscoring the long-term commitment to this international collaboration. A faculty member, identified as Lambert, who will be teaching in the program, emphasized the program’s foundational concepts. Lambert stated, “Those concepts and topics helped build the competencies that we will need to map for the summer school program in 2026 and 2027.” Lambert further highlighted the program’s unique international dimension: “What’s unique about our program, outside the fact that it’s an international collaboration, is students will be learning about the challenges in healthcare that are rooted in the same issues in the U.S. and other countries.” The program also aims to expose students to diverse industry environments, with Lambert adding, “It’s also important to have students go somewhere where industry partners might not be super fluent in English to experience those challenges.”
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The estimated cost for participation in the SHIFT Program is $3,700, which does not include flight costs or tuition. To promote accessibility, the grant provides funding for a scholarship that will cover travel expenses, most meals, housing, and the program fee for one student. Applications for the program are scheduled to open in October and will close in January 2026, inviting eligible students to apply for this enriching international experience.
