Considering Graduate Residencies And Co Ops In Healthcare Engineering

Co-op rotations and practicum-style internships are common educational and professional development activities at the undergraduate level in engineering colleges. However, this practice is much less frequent in graduate engineering programs, presumably because of the focus on graduate research activity. Should similar limitations extend to graduate students who are conducting field-based research in emerging engineering discipline areas? This concern is especially critical in the field of healthcare engineering, on which there is growing national emphasis as well as a willingness to embrace new engineering techniques and practices in hospitals and medical centers. Ironically, the healthcare environment has an existing model for graduate preparatory training before the start of independent postgraduate practice: the medical residency. This paper describes the author’s experience in developing a research lab emphasis on “graduate engineering residencies” in healthcare settings. Multiple models are used, including partnerships between the author’s lab and campus healthcare technical assistance programs.