Integrating medical and engineering undergraduate training

Academic programs that allow students to study core material from multiple subject areas in an integrated fashion have existed at North American medical schools for many decades and have included MD/PhD, MD/MBA and MD/MPH options. Interest in innovative programs to train potential clinical scientists, policy-makers and business leaders continues to be strong.^1,2

Engineering with Medicine has been available since 1998 at the University of Western Ontario to students who are interested in combining expertise in engineering, mathematics, computing and the physical sciences with careers in clinical or academic medicine (Fig. 1). The dual MD/BESc program requires 7 years of study instead of the 8 that would be required to attain the degrees separately.

Fig. 1: Brent Lanting (left) and Joe Barfett (right) are students in the MD/BESc program at the University of Western Ontario.

Students complete engineering coursework at the same time as they study the normal medical curriculum. They undertake a research-based thesis during the first 2 years of medical study. This thesis must demonstrate an application of engineering principles to current medical problems, and supervision is provided by members of both faculties. Projects have included a prototype apparatus to evaluate elbow joint mobility intraoperatively and a microencapsulation-based artificial cell implant for drug delivery to the central nervous system.

Although the MD/BESc program is academically demanding, it offers several important advantages. Many engineering concepts such as transfer phenomena, thermodynamics and mechanical vibrations are studied in a more medical context than would be possible in a traditional engineering or physical sciences program. In addition, the simultaneous acquisition of engineering and clinical skills provides unique insights into ways that technology can be used to improve health care.

We hope that this program can serve as a model for the implementation of a similar curriculum at other institutions and welcome correspondence (jjbarfet@uwo.ca) concerning course structure and students' experiences.

Joe Barfett Brent Lanting MD/BESc Class of 2006 Argyrios Margaritis Professor, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Carol Herbert Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Jim Silcox Vice-Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry University of Western Ontario London, Ont.