In order to generate a sustained effort to develop advanced biomedical therapeutics over the next decade and beyond, it is vital to educate the workforce of the future. The USC Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics has created programs in the past that provided uniquely custom-tailored educational experiences at the undergraduate and graduate level. These novel programs have already paid dividends in generating a new class of students who can integrate across diverse fields in science, engineering, and medicine. We completed an extensive award-winning program for K-12 students. Our belief is that science, engineering, and health education needs to be instilled at an early age to prevent “science phobic children.”
Our comprehensive and innovative Science and Engineering (S&E) education outreach initiative is designed to integrate science and engineering principles into the curriculum of elementary, middle and high school students. The Education program complemented the research mission of the IBT by implementing mechanisms for transferring the bioengineering knowledge developed by IBT investigators, as well as the motivation to engage in scientific research and medical device design, to successive generations of students.
Our Education Objectives
- Increase students’ exposure to the biomedical science, engineering principles and state-of the-art technology that are central to the development of implants.
- Introduce students to the practical and regulatory aspects of medical device development through courses and participation in corporate internships or industry-based directed research.
- Enhance the level of interdisciplinary research, teaching and communication, between IBT faculty and students in engineering and those in the Keck School of Medicine at USC, as well as between USC and its partner institutions
Outreach Initiative
IBT completed an academic pipeline of training, recruitment, and retention-based programs for students from grades K-12, as well as in the undergraduate and graduate levels.
At the K-12 level, the outreach team created a comprehensive and innovative, science and engineering education outreach initiative designed to integrate science and engineering principles into the curriculum of elementary, middle and high school students. The outreach program introduced and/or enhanced experiential learning that promoted understanding of and enthusiasm for basic science, engineering, and technology. At the elementary level, the Science for Life (SFL) outreach program was a collaborative science education initiative between the IBT and Murchison Elementary School (MES). At the middle school level, El Sereno Middle School, students and their teachers were invited to USC to participate in Science and Engineering Day sponsored by the outreach program. At the high school level, in an effort to increase awareness of and support for science and engineering among pre-college students, we created the Engineering for Health Academy (EHA), a small learning community within the context of the larger comprehensive school at Bravo Medical Magnet High School.
IBT Outreach
IBT is dedicated to fostering education in medicine, engineering, and the sciences beyond the university’s undergraduate and graduate students. Each year, the researchers of IBT have participated in a variety of outreach programs, like the Engineering for Health Academy (EHA), which offers research experiences for local area high school students from Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet School. In these programs, the high school students work closely with university students, post-docs, and faculty to answer fundamental questions of discovery research and/or to develop new technologies to treat medical conditions through applied research. In addition to EHA, the IBT labs have also participated in the Science High School Advanced Research Program (SHSARP), which offers summer research internship opportunities for high school students.
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