Clinical Needs Finding: Developing the Virtual Experience—A Case Study

Abstract

We describe an innovative program at the University of California, Davis for students to engage in clinical needs finding. Using a team-based approach, students participated in clinical rotations to observe firsthand the needs of clinicians at the university affiliated medical center. The teams were asked to develop documentary-style videos to capture key experiences that would allow future viewers to use the videos as "virtual" clinical rotations. This was conceived as a strategy to allow students in prohibitively large classes, or students in programs at institutions without associated medical or veterinary school programs, to experience clinical rotations and perform needs assessments. The students' perspectives on the experience as well as instructor analysis of best practices for this type of activity are presented and discussed. We found that the internship experience was valuable to the students participating, by not only introducing the practice of needs finding but for increasing the students' confidence in the practice of engineering design and their ability to work independently. The videos produced were of such high quality that instructors from other institutions have requested copies for instructional use. Virtual clinical rotations through video experiences may provide a reasonable substitute for students who do not have the ability to participate in rotations in person.

Perspectives on Bioengineering Clinical Immersion: History, Innovation, and Impact

“…While a needs-based approach is common, content and implementation varies. 1,2,8,12,15,[17][18][19]21,23,28,30,34,38,40 Program content is scoped to leverage institutional strengths and emphasize selected areas of focus such as technology transfer, commercialization, FDA regulatory considerations, insurance reimbursements, or intellectual property. Further, some programs foster interdisciplinary teamwork among engineering disciplines (undergraduate and graduate), business, nursing, and medical students.…”

“…Thus, clinical immersion programs help develop students' ability to communicate across discipline boundaries and understand why designs must meet multiple realistic constraints. 21 In fact, the FDA has increasingly emphasized the importance of identifying user needs and understanding user-device interaction to avoid safety issues, product recalls, and patient harm. 36 The FDA guidance document Do It By Design stresses the value of obtaining first-hand feedback from physicians, nurses and lay-users in the earliest stages of product conception and design.…”

“…Thus, clinical immersion programs help develop students’ ability to communicate across discipline boundaries and understand why designs must meet multiple realistic constraints. 21 …”

Clinical Immersion for Biomedical Engineers: Pivoting to a Virtual Format

“…A similar library of virtual clinical rotations through video experiences has been used by others to bring clinical needs finding experience to senior capstone design classes, and students were able to identify unique needs through this method. 7 This opportunity to greatly expand student exposure to the clinical perspective and environment will improve the background of all students in the CSU BME program.…”

Assessment of Student Engagement in Virtual Reality Clinical Immersion Environments through Eye Tracking

“…These experiences equip students to make wellinformed design decisions, extending beyond the classroom to the dynamic landscapes of academia and industry [4]. The skill set cultivated through clinical immersion includes proficiency in interdisciplinary communication, a nuanced understanding of the constraints that designs must address, and the capability to identify user needs and interactions that can avoid safety issues, recalls, and patient harm [3,5]. The FDA has increasingly emphasized the importance of clinical immersion to obtain firsthand feedback from physicians, nurses, healthcare staff, and patients during ideation and initial design phases, as human factors in medical devices is a requirement to ensure safety and efficacy [6].…”