Service Learning

BME students Christia Victoriano and Noah Mallory operate on an electrosurgical foot pedal at one of three hospitals in Guatemala where they and classmates spent spring break repairing medical devices. For a class of biomedical engineering undergraduates spring break was about frayed wires, disconnected connectors and malfunctioning monitors rather than… Read More

Vanderbilt biomedical engineering undergraduates and engineering students from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala worked in teams to repair equipment at four hospitals in Guatemala over spring break. An anesthesia vaporizer that doesn’t deliver enough anesthesia; a rattling infant incubator with a tilted impeller; an infusion pump stuck in permanent “hold” mode;… Read More

The Vanderbilt student team – with Cynthia Paschal (left, foreground) and Matthew Walker (center, background), biomedical engineering professors – huddles with the Juan Pablo II hospital administrators to deliver final equipment report summaries. Two engineering professors and 12 undergraduates spent their spring break repairing medical equipment at hospitals in Guatemala… Read More

Ten biomedical students and their professor spent spring break on a service learning trip where they repaired medical equipment March 8-12. This was the second trip to Guatemala for Associate Professor Cynthia Paschal, who teaches the Service Learning and Leadership course in the biomedical engineering department. “In preparation, we researched… Read More

Ten biomedical engineering students and their professor will spend spring break (March 8-12) in Guatemala City. This is the second trip to Guatemala for Associate Professor Cynthia Paschal, who teaches a Service Learning and Leadership course in the biomedical engineering department. She and 12 BME students spent a week in… Read More

In remote locations far from electricity and replacement batteries, a basic piece of medical exam equipment – the otoscope – can be useless. The importance of an otoscope extends beyond the general examination of eyes, ears and throats. Among other uses, it can help doctors see the borders of skin… Read More

When Cynthia Paschal created a new biomedical engineering service-learning course last fall, she hoped that 15 students would enroll. For the spring 2009 follow-up, she hoped to have 12 students, which would be a manageable number to take on an international project in Guatemala for a week. Then 46 students… Read More

  Twelve biomedical engineering students, their professor, and a former dean of the engineering school will spend spring break (Feb. 28-March 7) in Guatemala City. Follow them at this blog. The students are currently in Associate Professor Cynthia Paschal’s BME 290F class, Service Learning and Leadership. Paschal and… Read More