2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Exposure to the clinical environment – where the results of their engineering efforts are utilized – is a powerful educational experience for undergraduate Biomedical Engineering students. It provides real-world context for learning efforts and a hands-on opportunity for developing students to learn how to communicate effectively with their key stakeholders. Over the past 5 years, the Biomedical Engineering program at [institution] has developed and implemented a summer program focusing on providing a small cohort (10) rising junior students with immersive exposure to the clinical environment, intensive practice with clinical needs finding, and hands-on experience in the biomedical engineering innovation lifecycle. This paper will share key steps to take to initiate similar programs, highlight methods for program and curricular integration, and discuss the results of program impact assessment.
The Clinical Immersion Experience implemented at [institution] consists of 3 main components: a full 10-week summer course, a concurrent 8-week clinical exposure, and subsequent curricular integration through the next 2 academic years. The 10-week course focuses on teaching key aspects of the biomedical innovation lifecycle [1] [2]. Students start with consideration of ethics and complete training in responsible conduct of biomedical research and patient privacy protection. Next, students learn create a strategic focus and practice needs finding, screening, and ideation. Afterwards, students learn about intellectual property, patent processes, and FDA approval. Finally, during the last 4 weeks of the course, student teams prototype and test proposed solutions. The concurrent 8-week clinical exposure consists of 5 weeks of rotations through various hospital departments, guided by clinical mentors and nursing managers in each, followed by an embedded 3 weeks in one department based on the teams’ chosen needs and proposed solutions. Clinical mentors guide students through hospital observations and provide feedback throughout the ideation and prototyping process. The program culminates in a pitch presentation to stakeholders at [the hospital], [the institution], and the [campus business incubator].
Three essential stakeholders were required to implement the program: the [institution’s] Biomedical Engineering Department for curricular integration, the [medical center/hospital] administration and clinical mentors, and the [institution’s campus business incubator]. With buy-in from each, the program was developed and implemented with funding from a NIH R25 grant to support “Team-based Design in Biomedical Engineering”.
We chose to focus on students earlier in their academic career as part of a larger effort to expand the impact of the program. To date, 29 students have participated directly in the program. Needs finding and prototyping efforts from these students have resulting in 14 senior design projects directly impacting an additional 40 students. Considering the impact of these projects on a wider cohort of students, we estimate that the program has impacted a total of 300 students over its 3-year term. Additional projects have led to graduate thesis research and entrepreneurial efforts. Expanding through the lower division curriculum, participants in the summer program shared their experiences with their peers informally as well as formally though presentations in “Introduction to Biomedical Engineering”. Further assessment includes student survey data across all Biomedical Engineering students to assess the impact of direct and indirect engagement in the Clinical Immersion summer program on awareness of the clinical environment, degree of engagement with the major, and academic performance.
The Clinical Immersion Experience supports the [institution’s] experiential learning experience while the students also gain exposure to working with clinical lead users.