2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Introduction: Health equity entails reducing health disparities to provide all people an equally high standard of health [1]. Biomedical Engineering (BME) as a discipline is well-positioned to realize medical innovations that improve health and address health inequities. Professionals in medicine, biomedical sciences, and engineering have access to ample resources to advance medical innovation in ways that take healthcare quality and access into account during the design process. Specifically, biomedical engineering programs can and do engage in meaningful collaborations with medical professionals, but there exists an opportunity to amplify accessibility and equity during the medical innovation process. Since our primary role is to guide the development of undergraduate biomedical engineers, our work aims to help students build cultural and social competencies in tandem with integrative engineering skills. This work in progress shares our curricular approach to help answer the guiding research question: How do students describe health equity considerations when exploring engineering design?

Pedagogical Approach: Our work in progress shares how we designed a multi-level undergraduate assignment to engage first- and third-year BME students with health equity in design. The assignment, which is grounded in universal design and Biodesign principles, is a two-part experience that guides students through an exploration of health equity in current engineering solutions. Our work leverages partnerships with the [redacted] School of Medicine, the [redacted] Schools of Liberal Arts and Public Health, and community members toward the development of coursework that informs BME health equity education in engineering design.

Universal design, as defined by Ronald Mace, is a concept that aims to create products and systems that are accessible and usable by as many people as possible [2]. The universal design (UD) characteristics of usable, accessible, and inclusive [3] are encompassed in seven design principles: equitable use; flexibility in use; simple and intuitive use; availability of information; tolerance for error; low physical effort; size and space for approach and use; and aesthetic and minimalist design [4]. Biodesign is a method of training future health technology innovators that was founded at Stanford University [5]. This approach engages medicine, engineering, and business into a Biodesign curriculum that challenges participants to identify (needs finding and needs screening), invent (concept generation and concept screening), and implement (strategy development and business planning) [6]. A recently developed diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) toolkit for the Biodesign process [7] provides curriculum developers and instructors with information on diverse team building, challenges in developing medical technologies for all, and techniques to implement DEIJ in the design process.

Exploring Health Equity in Biomedical Engineering Solutions Assignment: Using universal design and Biodesign principles, our two-part assignment guides students through an exploration of health equity in current engineering solutions. Part One of the assignment is delivered in a first-year introductory engineering course and uses a universal design lens, with the goals of having student teams (1) explain the history, function, and fabrication of a biomedical device or therapeutic and (2) analyze strengths and weaknesses of product design with regards to social, cultural, economic, and environmental considerations. In Part Two of the assignment, third-year BME student teams receive background research on a device or therapeutic, as generated by first-year students in the prior semester. The third-year students review the research then further explore the device or therapeutic using a Biodesign lens by identifying and explaining existing or future inequities in the biomedical design process. Specifically, third-year students are challenged with “consider statements” as points of reflection to push student teams to consider all stakeholders, to document if proposed solutions reach underserved populations, and to consider underserved communities during market research and analysis.

Outcome: First-year BME students completed Part One of the assignment in teams of 3-4 in fall 2023. Students studied the history, fabrication, and function of ten biomedical devices/therapies ranging from the Band-Aid to the X-ray machine. Students recognized economic, geographic, and physical mobility constraints as barriers to equitable access. Social stigma within subpopulations and lack of education on both device and disease were also identified by students as limiting factors in patient compliance. Third-year BME students will complete Part Two of the assignment in spring 2024

As we move forward with the project, we will work with a panel of colleagues from academia, industry, and medicine to identify best strategies for health equity education for undergraduate BME students. Further, we plan to run focus groups with our first- and third-year BME students to learn of their pre-existing knowledge and attitudes toward health equity.