Learning from the Customer – Biomedical Engineering Clinical Correlates Taught by Physicians

Colin K Drummond; Matthew L Moorman

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Conference: 2022 ASEE - North Central Section Conference
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Publication Date: March 18, 2022
Start Date: March 18, 2022
End Date: April 4, 2022
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 6
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--39251
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/39251
Download Count: 174

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Paper Authors

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Colin K Drummond Case Western Reserve University orcid.org/0000-0002-9053-3649

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In January 2015, Colin re-joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering as Professor and Assistant Chair, having previously spent a year in the School of Nursing. From 2008-2013, Colin was the Director of the Coulter-Case Translational Research Partnership (CCTRP) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Colin’s research interests are on educational pedagogy, the practical application of simulation and healthcare information technology to support clinical decision-making, including advances in understanding wearable analytics for human performance assessment. He is active in developing experiential and co-curricular activities for students, the development of standards modules for design classes, and collaborative projects that address patient need.

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Matthew L Moorman Case Western Reserve University

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Chief, Division of Trauma, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

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Abstract

Nearly all undergraduate biomedical engineering programs teach some form of human physiology. How this is taught, by what faculty (engineering, anatomy, etc.) is variable. Physiology, as classically taught in texts, contains little quantitative relationships of interest to engineers. Two practicing critical care surgeons with engineering backgrounds have encountered enumerable clinical problems ripe for engineering solutions. Some of the more common, such as intravascular volume during resuscitation, optimum ventilator tidal volumes delivered to diseased lungs, and assessment of injured tissue viability at surgery, are presented as engineering problems in the context of actual bedside utility. Mathematical models are utilized for quantitative analysis of these clinical principles. These clinical correlations enable synthesis of basic engineering concepts around applications in medical practice. Students draw upon prior training in biophysics, anatomic structure and function, and mathematical modeling of physiologic systems. Blending engineering and clinical concepts in this fashion expand student’s medical expertise.

The curriculum maintains two overriding concepts throughout eight modules: (i) How physicians think versus how engineers think and (ii) Learning the language of the customer. This eight-week course featured critical care cases designed to associate and translate engineering concepts into relevant medical knowledge. In this “flipped” course, surgeon-instructors pose actual clinical scenarios where they see a need for an engineering solution. Students were expected to prepare for each class and actively participate in a physician-lead discussion involving a clinical problem for which asking for proposed solutions. Post-case homework was a written reflection of about 1000 words describing their understanding of the problem and their proposed initial solutions. These written assignments and their attendance were used to calculate a final grade.

The course was taught for the first time in the Fall semester of 2021. Formal feedback is still pending. Students provide immediate critique of the course by their attendance which was 100% over eight weeks. Informal feedback to the full-time engineering faculty member was universally positive. Planned revisions to the course include relying more on the flipped classroom model and spending less time reviewing basic concepts. This leaves more time for discussion of the clinical scenarios which highlight the need for engineering solutions. The curriculum will likely be taught twice each year and possibly expanded to include graduate-level student who desire additional training in basic physiology principles and their application.

Citation
Format

Drummond, C. K., & Moorman, M. L. (2022, March), Learning from the Customer – Biomedical Engineering Clinical Correlates Taught by Physicians Paper presented at 2022 ASEE - North Central Section Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--39251

TY - CPAPER
AB - Nearly all undergraduate biomedical engineering programs teach some form of human physiology. How this is taught, by what faculty (engineering, anatomy, etc.) is variable. Physiology, as classically taught in texts, contains little quantitative relationships of interest to engineers. Two practicing critical care surgeons with engineering backgrounds have encountered enumerable clinical problems ripe for engineering solutions. Some of the more common, such as intravascular volume during resuscitation, optimum ventilator tidal volumes delivered to diseased lungs, and assessment of injured tissue viability at surgery, are presented as engineering problems in the context of actual bedside utility. Mathematical models are utilized for quantitative analysis of these clinical principles. These clinical correlations enable synthesis of basic engineering concepts around applications in medical practice. Students draw upon prior training in biophysics, anatomic structure and function, and mathematical modeling of physiologic systems. Blending engineering and clinical concepts in this fashion expand student’s medical expertise.

The curriculum maintains two overriding concepts throughout eight modules: (i) How physicians think versus how engineers think and (ii) Learning the language of the customer. This eight-week course featured critical care cases designed to associate and translate engineering concepts into relevant medical knowledge. In this “flipped” course, surgeon-instructors pose actual clinical scenarios where they see a need for an engineering solution. Students were expected to prepare for each class and actively participate in a physician-lead discussion involving a clinical problem for which asking for proposed solutions. Post-case homework was a written reflection of about 1000 words describing their understanding of the problem and their proposed initial solutions. These written assignments and their attendance were used to calculate a final grade.

The course was taught for the first time in the Fall semester of 2021. Formal feedback is still pending. Students provide immediate critique of the course by their attendance which was 100% over eight weeks. Informal feedback to the full-time engineering faculty member was universally positive. Planned revisions to the course include relying more on the flipped classroom model and spending less time reviewing basic concepts. This leaves more time for discussion of the clinical scenarios which highlight the need for engineering solutions. The curriculum will likely be taught twice each year and possibly expanded to include graduate-level student who desire additional training in basic physiology principles and their application.

AU - Colin K Drummond
AU - Matthew L Moorman
CY - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DA - 2022/03/18
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Learning from the Customer – Biomedical Engineering Clinical Correlates Taught by Physicians
UR - https://peer.asee.org/39251
DO - 10.18260/1-2--39251
ER -