Development of Experiential Learning Models in Biomedical Engineering Programs for International Implementation

Undergraduate biomedical engineering (BME) programs have increased considerably and the drives for continuous improvement of the programs persist. While covering a comprehensive base of multiple disciplines required for BME studies on campus has been a big challenge, the Industry Professional Advisory Committee members usually recommend incorporating experiential learning modules of co-op or internship in the curriculum. Embedding cooperative modules within the undergraduate BME educational program is aimed to assist students in gaining the highly valuable real-life experience. The cooperative work modules facilitate the students in exploring different realistic aspects of the complex work processes in the biomedical engineering field. The values of the cooperative learning modules are recognized by the academicians. It must be emphasized that different countries follow different models for BME education. At the international level, the developers of the BME curriculum find the inclusion of cooperative work experience or internship with a heavy course load in the program a formidable challenge. Having a single model is not likely to work in varying environments coupled with practical training and employment opportunities in different countries. The main objective of the present work is to develop few cooperative experiential learning models for BME undergraduate students that can be applied internationally and to propose multiple partner organizations to host the co-op. In this paper, designs of a few co-op/internship models embedded in the undergraduate BME curriculum and an innovative array of co-op hosting organizations are described. Other models of one semester at a teaching hospital, a medical device company, and at an academic research lab are mentioned. The results obtained clearly support the proposed co-op/internship scheme. In conclusion, integrating the cooperative work experience will be of significant value in biomedical engineering education by giving opportunities for real-life work experience to the students. For sustained success at the international level, it is essential that a suitable model must be selected to blend with the mission of the overall training program at the academic institution.