BS degree in BME: initial experiences in the "Politecnico di Milano"

1
BS degree in BMEinitial experiences in the
"Politecnico di Milano"

• From parallel 3 year Diploma and 5 year Laurea
  to series 3 year BS and 2 year MS (2000)

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General structure of the actual course
BS - Common Track 1st and 2nd year
BS - Applied Tracks - 3rd year Clinical -
Industrial - Rehabilitation
BS - Introductory to MS 3rd year
BS degree
Debts ? 20
MS - 2 years Suggested Tracks - Health Care
Management - Biochemistry and Biomaterials -
Biomedical Informatics and Telemedicine -
Biofluidynamics and Artificial Organs - Neural
Engineering - Medical Images - Tissue Engineering
and Biotechnologies - Biomechanical Design -
Movement Engineering and Ergonomics - Biomedical
Signal Data Processing - Biomedical
Technologies and Biosensors
MS degree
PhD in Bioengineering 3 years
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Entry of students at BS in BME
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Characteristics of recruited students
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1st year
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2nd year
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3rd year - Applied tracks
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3rd year - Track introductory to MS
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3rd year - Elective BME courses
(open also to MS, as 1st year basic BME courses)
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Collateral activities

• Orientation seminars - 2nd year, 1st sem. - 1
  ECTSeducation, research, industrial org.,
  working fields
• Foreign language - 2nd year - 2.5 ECTS - TOEFL
• Stage - end 2nd year, 3rd year - 8 ECTSexternal
  tutor (company or hospital), internal
  tutor,written report of activities
• Project (applied tracks) - 3rd year - 4
  ECTStutored design, programming, data analysis
• Final report - 3rd year - 7 ECTSin depth study
  of assigned topic - tutor - discussantdemonstrate
  the capability of autonomous study, linking to
  attended subjects, report, and presentation

co-ordination is welcome
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Examination rules

• mid semester written examination - 50 of program
  (compulsory in the 1st year, but largely attended
  in the other years as well)
• end semester written examination - idem
• possible final oral examination (more frequently
  the last year)
• two backup sessions during the year
• if examination is not passed, repeat attendance
  the next year

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Common Complaints Cons

• Parcelled instruction
• Little time dedicated to in-depth study
• Less reference to books, more to course material
• Answer to closed questions rather than written or
  oral development of a problem or a topic

Supporting Reasons Pros

• On the point instruction
• Better definition of evaluation criteria
• Student work paced since the very first weeks
• It works!

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Results in the progress of students
average score 25 / 30
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BS degrees
at regime in about 3.5 years
entered in 2000 exactly on time (BS in 3 years)
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Actual vs. former educational approach
BS 180 ECTS MS 120 ECTSmost modules of 5 ECTS
stage, projects, BS report, MS thesis
29 exams x 10 ECTSfinal thesis
the washing machine mythput in this, put in
that, in a fixed order, and run!
the nouvelle cuisine syndromea little bit of
this, a little bit of that, but where is the main
course?
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Conclusion

• Significant improvement with respect to former 5
  year Laurea
• However, a dedicated Diploma School, with a fixed
  number of applicants (50 per year), was optimal
  for applied tracks
• Conversely, the actual series solution improves
  cost / efficiency
• Our actual BS model privileges (to extreme
  technical specialisation) general education with
  mild specialisation as entry point to on the
  field education
• Placement in medical device companies, in-house
  or out-source clinical engineering services
• Need for a development in the co-ordination
  between university education and further
  in-service training and specialisation
• One year specialisation courses, open to BS, are
  foreseen by Italian law and are under study at
  the Politecnico