Abstract:

This presentation will highlight the results of three National Science Foundation (NSF) grant awards to design, develop and implement interdisciplinary, active-learning, biomedically-relevant undergraduate curriculum at the intersection of physics and medicine. Over the past decade, the physics department at our small, liberal arts university has made a concerted effort towards transformation and growth through the design of new physics courses relevant to students’ career interests in medicine and healthcare. Supported by the Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians Competencies Report (HHMI/AAMC Report, 2009) which recognized the value of improving integration in the teaching of the basic sciences and specified the interdisciplinary competencies necessary for future healthcare providers, the author designed an interdisciplinary Physics of Medicine (POM) Program with goals of increasing student learning in physics, integrating the “big ideas” of fundamental science, and developing upper-division physics courses relevant to students’ interests in medicine and healthcare. The unique curricular design of the POM Program focuses on deepening students’ conceptual physics understanding and critical thinking/reasoning skills through the lens of medicine.

Since its inception in 2009, the POM Program has grown quickly to become a leading program on our campus, and the previously small number of students in upper-division physics courses has grown substantially with a 600% increase in physics students enrolled in upper division physics classes. The largest increase has been seen in the traditionally low number of females enrolled in upper division physics courses with our female population increasing from a low of 0% at inception of the program to a current value of 60% of the POM student population.

This presentation will include POM Program design, sample pedagogy, content/ attitudinal data, and growth of POM Program enrollment data. This work is supported by the grant DUE- 1934038 from the National Science Foundation.

Keywords:

Physics, medicine, active-learning, interdisciplinary, critical thinking, curriculum development.