Perspectives on Bioengineering Clinical Immersion: History, Innovation, and Impact
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Annals of Biomedical Engineering ( 2020) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02508-x
Original Article
Perspectives on Bioengineering Clinical Immersion: History, Innovation, and Impact MIIRI KOTCHE ,1 ANTHONY E. FELDER,1 KIMBERLEE WILKENS,2 and SUSAN STIRLING2 1
Richard and Loan Hill Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; and 2School of Design, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA (Received 24 February 2020; accepted 4 April 2020) Associate Editor Emmanuel Opara oversaw the review of this article.
Abstract—Opportunities to provide clinical immersion experiences to bioengineering undergraduate students have expanded over the last several years. These programs allow students to observe the clinical environment in order to better understand workflow processes, the context in which medical equipment is used, and identify unmet needs firsthand. While each program focuses on identifying unmet needs, these experiences vary in content and implementation. Here we discuss features of clinical immersion programs, share details of our program after six years, and present data regarding post-graduation employment of our participants. Students who participated in the University of Illinois at Chicago Clinical Immersion Program are not more likely to pursue careers in industry as compared to non-participants, nor do they demonstrate an ability to find a job more quickly than non-participants. However, participants who did enter into industry self-reported that the program was impactful to both their career interests and ability to find their first employment position. Keywords—Education, Clinical immersion, Bioengineering, Biomedical engineering, Undergraduate, Needs identification.
INTRODUCTION Much effort has been focused on ensuring that engineering education reflects contemporary technology development and innovation. In the early 1990s, K-12 education shifted to emphasize the philosophy of ‘‘learning by doing’’, giving rise to the pedagogical
Address correspondence to Miiri Kotche, Richard and Loan Hill Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic mail: [email protected]
approach of contextual learning.16 Contextual learning is based on a constructivist theory of teaching and learning whereby meaning emerges from the relationship between content and its context.4,16 This approach relates subject matter to real-world situations, thereby allowing students to make connections between knowledge and their own experiences. Thus, as educators were assessing the core competencies and skillsets necessary for engineers in the rapidly changing workplace, contextual learning was emphasized as an integral component of engineering education.4 The foundational concepts of engineering and science remain essential, but engineers must also be able to critically assess opportunity and apply knowledge to a variety of problems. Educators, then, should help students learn to bridge boundaries between disciplines and make connections that produ
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