By Joie N. Marhefka, PhD.
It has been almost two years since our lives were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like everyone else, we had to quickly switch to online classes. This was, of course, particularly challenging in classes that have a major hands-on component, but, like everyone else, we adapted and found creative ways to teach courses online.
While I am glad that our classes are (mostly) back to normal now, teaching through the pandemic has forced me to come up with ideas that will enhance our courses and continue to benefit our students going forward. While everyone (including me) has stories of struggles caused by the pandemic, I am hoping to share some of the good things that have come out of the last few years and how these things will continue to help students in the future.
During the period where our classes were online, as well as much of the 2020-21 school year, we were forced to conduct guest lectures virtually. While in many ways this was not ideal, it did allow us to easily expand the pool of guest speakers to include people who were not local as well as those who were not able to commit sufficient time to visit the campus. Even as we are now able to bring guests to campus, we have continued to use virtual platforms to allow students to hear from and talk with a wider variety of professionals.
On a related note, this year our incoming students were paired with alumni mentors. Each student was matched with a recent graduate and asked to talk with their mentor about various topics throughout the semester. The majority of our alumni volunteers are no longer in the local area. However, this did not seem to cause any problems for the students, since they are so used to using technology for video chats. They easily connected with their mentors. Hopefully these relationships will continue beyond the semester, and the students will benefit from mentoring as they begin their careers.
Another challenge during the past two years has been limitations on touring hospitals. Typically, our students get to tour several hospitals (and sometimes device companies too) before starting their internships. This gives them a better idea of the work environment and allows them to see equipment that we don’t have on campus. Since these opportunities have been limited during the pandemic, I have been creating interactive 360-degree videos of different work environments, such as biomed shops, operating rooms and training facilities. Even as we are able to conduct more field trips, these videos will allow students to interact with environments, situations and devices that they would not otherwise be able to experience. In addition, these videos will be helpful for incoming and prospective students who are trying to decide if this is the right field for them. The videos can also promote the field to high school students or people looking for a career change.
Finally, during the pandemic, with AAMI’s help and coordination, various schools, programs and professionals shared material that they had created. It truly seemed like we were all in this together. I have collaborated with educators at other schools to share ideas and strategies during these challenging times. I hope that many of us can connect in person at conferences this year and that continuing to share will benefit our students as they complete their education and start their careers.
While I hope that the COVID-19 pandemic is soon in the rearview mirror and that things can truly get back to normal, I will build on the positive things that we learned during these past two years. Continuing to use some of these technologies and ideas in my classes will benefit our students to start their careers and in the future.
– Joie N. Marhefka, Ph.D., is the biomedical engineering technology program coordinator at Penn State New Kensington.