BME 411: Science and Technology Approaches to Problems in Human Health

1. BME 411: Science and Technology Approaches to Problems in Human Health Course co-conspirators: Chris Schaffer (Biomedical Engineering, Cornell) Mike Kaplitt (Neurological Surgery, Weill) http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

2. BME 411 Overview • New course team taught by faculty from Cornell at both the Weill Medical College and Ithaca campuses • Organized by BME (Schaffer) and Neurological Surgery (Kaplitt) • First offered in Fall 2007, to be offered in subsequent Fall terms • Expenses partially funded by grant from Caren Heller from the Cornell Office for Inter-Campus Initiatives • About 150 (!) students completed the course this past Fall http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

3. BME 411 Goals • Provide an in-depth look at selected problems that affect human health as well as current research efforts focused on these problems. • Give Cornell undergraduates interested in health-related careers a better understanding of how medicine works. • Encourage students to think about how important research problems are identified and honed into potential projects. http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

4. BME 411 Goals • Provide an in-depth look at selected problems that affect human health as well as current research efforts focused on these problems. • Lectures and reading assignments • Give Cornell undergraduates interested in health-related careers a better understanding of how medicine works. • Meet Weill faculty in lectures and informal meetings • Encourage students to think about how important research problems are identified and honed into potential projects. • Team-based term project http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

5. BME 411 Challenges: Lectures • Selection of topics for course • Coherence of material presented by many different lecturers • Diverse student backgrounds • 1/3 engineering • 1/3 biology • 1/3 other • Personalized instruction in a large class http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

6. Coherence of the course • Careful staging of speakers, grouped into “modules” • Modules centered on diseases, don’t try to cover everything • In one module: • Weill speaker(s) describes: • 1. normal and disease state physiology • 2. current diagnosis, treatment options • 3. problems or unmet needs, clinical research • Ithaca speaker(s) follow: • 1. research approach and results • 2. how work may improve patient outcomes http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

7. Topics • Infectious disease • Cancer • Cardiovascular disease • Neurological disease • Orthopedic disease • Ethanol dependence http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

8. Lectures http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

9. Lectures http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

10. Dealing with diverse preparations • Background readings weekly • Enforce student reading and lecture attendance with web-based quizzes (50% of grade) • 10 multiple choice per week • 3 essay questions per week (1 is “what is confusing”) http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

11. Avoiding anonymity • Multiple opportunities for informal interactions with faculty: • lunches, informal question sessions, career talks • opportunity for students to learn about medical care • Every web-based quiz ends with the same question: • “Describe any material you found confusing. If nothing was confusing, describe something you found interesting.” • Responses summarized for lecturing faculty • Common questions addressed in a posted document • Uncommon questions addressed through a direct email http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

12. Course project • Course project in teams of 3 (at least 1 engineer, 1 biologist) • Write a proposal for health-related research, NIH style • Three stages: • 1. “Specific Aims” page (10% of grade) • 2. Short presentation and meeting with faculty (10%) • students talked for 5 min., and got 15 min. of questions/comments from Schaffer and Kaplitt • 3. Five page final proposal (30%) http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

13. http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

14. Results from last term • 15 lectures from Ithaca campus faculty: from BME, Neurobiology, Vet school • 11 lectures from Weill faculty: from Neurological Surgery, HSS • 3 outside guest lectures • 1 university president lecture http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

15. Unexpected benefits • Students worked very hard on their projects, going well beyond anything we covered in class • For many, this course was the first time they read original scientific papers. • For almost ALL students, this course was the first time they had to sift through scientific papers on their own (rather than having an “ideal” paper handed to them) • Many of these students really got a taste of what the planning/conceptual stages of research is like http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

16. Faculty liked lecturing in the course • “One thing I liked about participating in BME 411 was the wide variety of student backgrounds… forced me to consider a more broad-based approach to the material… I thought the conception and execution of the course were terrific.” • “I liked knowing that the students had read an article or two before the lecture… The questions I got seemed to come from well informed students.” • “One thing I liked very much about BME 411 was the keen interest from the students... Most of the questions were related to the future of translational research in this area, with a number of insightful ideas. It's fun to interact with students who are really interested.” http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

17. Students liked taking the course • “Interesting lecturers from all fields of medical research.” • “Very enjoyable course with lots of interesting material.” • “Really stimulated my interest in medicine and biomedical research… The project was a great opportunity to work in a team to develop an innovative idea in the field of medicine.” • “The strength of this course is the overall exposure to current research in medical engineering. You really do get a good feel of the field and where it's going.” • “Overall, the best course that I've taken at Cornell.” http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

18. … Or most of them did… • “I really liked the final reception for the class on the last day, but I was little bit disappointed because there were no cheese cubes, which I think is an essential component of any reception.” • “I am not that interested in research so I found the engineering aspect rather boring…” http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

19. BME 411 next year • Beginning planning for next Fall’s offering -- recruiting lecturers now! • Overall course structure seems sound -- need to better inform lecturers of topics covered by other speakers • Readings ahead of class work well, but need three tiers: • “science times” article • review article • 1 - 2 original research papers • Grading strategy will be adjusted a bit: • quizzes 40% (individual) • specific aims 10% (group) • presentation 20% (individual/group) • final proposal 30% (group) http://www.bme.cornell.edu/

20. BME 411 Goals • Provide an in-depth look at selected problems that affect human health as well as current research efforts focused on these problems. • Lectures and reading assignments • Give Cornell undergraduates interested in health-related careers better understanding of how medicine works. • Meet Weill faculty through lectures and informally • Encourage students to think about how important research problems are identified and honed into potential projects. • Team-based term project http://www.bme.cornell.edu/