Teaching biomedical engineering ethics: A case based approach

In the fall of 2008, the University of Michigan, Department of Biomedical Engineering engaged industry representatives to introduce a new framework designed to teach graduate level engineering students about biomedical ethical issues in business situations. This framework was built on real-life case studies regarding quality problems in the medical device industry. Students were first introduced to a mini case involving a hypothetical product quality problem related to an implantable medical device. Then, students were divided into teams and assigned specific roles to develop a response. Students were given several days to develop a recommendation during which they could seek additional case information from industry representatives. As a wrap-up, the real-world device recall was presented to the students to highlight how the very same challenges the students faced in their teams were dealt with from an industry perspective. This framework provided both a mechanism to bring real-world ethical situations into the classroom and a method to foster a collaborative learning environment for the students. Of the several exercises used in class, this case-based group exercise was found to be the most effective at helping students understand real-world ethical decision making.