Open Biomedical Engineering education in Africa

Abstract

Despite the virtual revolution, the mainstream academic community in most countries remains largely ignorant of the potential of web-based teaching resources and of the expansion of open source software, hardware and rapid prototyping. In the context of Biomedical Engineering (BME), where human safety and wellbeing is paramount, a high level of supervision and quality control is required before open source concepts can be embraced by universities and integrated into the curriculum. In the meantime, students, more than their teachers, have become attuned to continuous streams of digital information, and teaching methods need to adapt rapidly by giving them the skills to filter meaningful information and by supporting collaboration and co-construction of knowledge using open, cloud and crowd based technology. In this paper we present our experience in bringing these concepts to university education in Africa, as a way of enabling rapid development and self-sufficiency in health care. We describe the three summer schools held in sub-Saharan Africa where both students and teachers embraced the philosophy of open BME education with enthusiasm, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of opening education in this way in the developing and developed world.

Nurturing next-generation biomedical engineers in Africa: The impact of Innovators’ Summer Schools

“…Defects and failure of medical equipment can lead to delays in diagnosis and treatment, overor under-treatment, long-term health risks, high out-of-pocket healthcare costs, long hospital stays and, worst of all, loss of life (Akukwe, 2006;Albutt et al, 2018;Di Pietro et al, 2020;Fonjungo et al, 2012;Tumukunde, Sendagire & Ttendo, 2019;WHO, 2010a). Similarly, equipment maintenance and repair operations usually experience long delays as most of the support infrastructure and skilled maintenance staff come from developed countries (Ahluwalia et al, 2015;De Maria et al, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, it is of paramount importance to establish biomedical engineering education programs on the African continent. These programs would enable the training of the next generation of leaders and thinkers who can navigate the social, political and structural complexities of their countries, and design and develop the most appropriate medical technologies for these countries (Ahluwalia et al, 2015;Douglas, 2012;Douglas et al, 2017;Lustick & Zaman, 2011).…”

Peer Instruction Can be as Effective as Lecture-based Instruction in Biomedical Engineering

“…The Ugandan students demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge through peer-instruction, team-based learning, and group projects. While active learning in Africa is unusual, it has previously been successful in sub-Saharan Africa biomedical engineering [14] and biology [15]. These students, the future educators of Africa, embraced active learning and will hopefully incorporate these evidence-based teaching methods into their own courses one day.…”