A Novel Clinically Immersive Pre-doctoral Training Program for Engineering in Surgery and Intervention: Initial Realization and Preliminary Results

A novel pre-doctoral program is presented that combines (1) immersive observation in the surgical/interventional theatre and (2) thought-provoking exposition activities focused on answering clinically provocative questions. While the long-term goal is to train engineers to conduct clinical translational research in human systems, in this paper, perceived trainee improvements are assessed in: (1) their ability to pose important questions in surgery and intervention, (2) their knowledge of surgical technologies, and (3) their understanding of procedural medicine. The program combines constructivist and constructionist learning approaches through a dual-course suite consisting of: (1) a scaffold lecture design with ten physicians presenting their procedural specialties interleaved with lectures relating engineering principles, and (2) a second course with clinically mentored immersion experiences in the operating room/interventional suite, clinical conferences, and patient rounds. Details of the complementing technical core and learning environment are also provided. Preliminary data reports on the quantitative experiential clinical involvement and on a self-reported survey over 5 cohorts of trainees (n = 18). With respect to immersion, the average surgeries/interventions observed, number of different types, and clinical contact time per student was on average 15.6 ± 7.9 surgeries/interventions, 8.2 ± 3.6 types, and 48.2 ± 14.7 contact hours, respectively. With respect to trainee understanding of procedural medicine, surgical technologies, and value of clinical observation, an average perceived improvement of 41%, 38%, and 41% over the course series was detected, respectively (p < 0.001). Equally impressive, when rating ability to pose important questions affecting human health, an average perceived improvement of 34% was detected (p < 0.001). The preliminary realization of a novel pre-doctoral clinically immersive training program for engineering trainees is described and demonstrates extensive levels of clinical contact and strong evidence that the provided immersion experiences result in significant improvements in understanding of procedural medicine.