Engineering world health: A novel approach to teaching a global viewpoint

Engineering World Health has partnered with The University of Memphis to create The Engineering World Health Summer Institute. This unique study abroad program offers students an opportunity to receive hands-on technical skills in a foreign country while earning college credit. The program is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students in engineering. However chemistry or physics majors can qualify. Students should have completed their coursework in chemistry, physics and calculus. Participants in The Summer Institute begin with an intensive, four-week training session at The University of Memphis. Every morning, students are immersed in Latin American culture, taking language classes spoken entirely in Spanish and eating lunch in a simulated immersion environment. In the afternoons, students attend courses in instrument repair. Finally, the training is put to use during a four-week internship in a foreign hospital. Students continue taking Spanish lessons every morning, devoting the afternoons to biomedical engineering duties at the hospital. Students who complete the entire program can earn up to 12 college credits. Involvement in The Engineering World Health Summer Institute is unlike any class or internship currently available, supplying study-abroad experience, first-hand knowledge of medical device use and a second language.