2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Health disparities are defined as preventable health differences among historically marginalized groups. There are a myriad of problems contributing to health disparities in the United States: economic factors, healthcare access, environmental factors, education, and poor quality of care. Engineering presents a solution to address health disparities by better training engineers to understand health disparities and creating engineering solutions to approach them. In biomedical engineering (BME), students learn how to apply engineering principles and methods to problems in the healthcare system. Therefore, to create a biomedical engineering workforce ready to solve modern-day problems, concepts of health disparities should be incorporated in undergraduate curricula.

The existing literature on health disparities in curricula predominantly focuses on disciplines such as public health, biology, medicine, and pharmacy. While literature has shown that BME departments and educators have incorporated health disparity concepts into undergraduate coursework at various institutions, there are few examples of how it is incorporated into the whole curriculum. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has updated their standards requiring departments to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion in biomedical engineering curriculum, creating an opportunity to address topics such as health disparities. Therefore, the engineering education research (EER) community needs to explore the extent to which health disparity concepts are incorporated in BME undergraduate programs.

The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate how current undergraduate BME programs at varying institution types (i.e., R1, emerging research institution, HBCU, HSI) prepare students for addressing health disparities. This work is grounded by Lanier and colleagues’ (2022) “Ten Simple Rules in Biomedical Engineering to Improve Healthcare Equity” and Lattuca and Stark’s (2009) “Academic Plan in Sociocultural Context”. Additionally, this study utilizes a multiple-case study methodology with embedded units of analysis.

First, I will outline the literature and provide examples of specific educators and departments who have included health disparity concepts in their programs. Second, I will provide an in-depth discussion on the research design and methods guiding this study, specifically on the case institution selection and methods. Lastly, I will share the next steps of this project, which entail data analysis, findings, and dissemination of findings.

The findings of this study will provide a deeper understanding of how BME academic programs incorporate health disparities in their curricula, providing a baseline for how institutions incorporate health disparity topics relevant to BME. As a product of this work, a set of criteria will be developed for BME programs to assess if their curriculum effectively incorporates health disparities. By incorporating health disparities in biomedical engineering curriculum, the BME education community can aid in developing engineers who are socially conscious and driven to make an impact in society.