Course Description
Human-centered design for digital health technologies across medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and nursing. Students apply design thinking and UX research to improve workflows, outcomes, and provider satisfaction through case studies and hands-on labs, learning to prototype, evaluate, and refine solutions for diverse healthcare needs.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
1. Advanced Readings and Literature Reviews
Graduate students will be expected to:
Read and critically analyze two additional peer-reviewed articles per module.
Submit weekly literature reflections (300–500 words) connecting readings to course themes and professional practice.
2. Leadership in Team Projects
Graduate students will be expected to:
Serve as team leads during the final project.
Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and ensure integration of AI tools.
Submit a leadership reflection detailing team dynamics, decision-making, and project management strategies.
Athena Title
Design and Tech in Healthcare
Undergraduate Pre or Corequisite
VPHY 3100 or VPHY 3100E or VPHY 3107-3107D or STAT 2000 or STAT 2000E or BCMB 3100 or BCMB 3100E or BCMB 3100H or MIBO 3000-3000L or MIBO 3500 or MIBO 3500E or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will understand AI fundamentals and healthcare applications.
- Students will explore AI methods like machine learning, NLP, computer vision, and decision trees.
- Students will analyze real-world technology and design case studies across disciplines such as veterinary medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and medicine.
- Students will collaborate with stakeholders to co-design solutions that address specific clinical needs and workflows.
- Students will prototype and iteratively refine digital tools using feedback from interdisciplinary users.
- Students will analyze case studies to assess the impact of design decisions on patient outcomes, provider efficiency, and system adoption.
- Students will critically evaluate the ethical and practical implications of technology deployment in diverse healthcare settings.
Topical Outline
- Introduction to Human-Centered Design in Healthcare: This session introduces students to the foundational principles of human-centered design (HCD) and its relevance across diverse healthcare environments. Through an interdisciplinary lens, students will explore design thinking, stakeholder engagement, and the role of empathy in creating usable and impactful digital health solutions.
- Design Thinking & UX in Clinical Contexts: This session explores the application of design thinking and user experience (UX) principles to clinical environments, emphasizing empathy-driven approaches to understanding user needs. Students will engage in activities such as empathy mapping, user journey creation, and stakeholder analysis to identify opportunities for improving healthcare workflows and patient interactions.
- Needs Assessment in Health Professions: This session focuses on identifying unmet needs and workflow challenges within veterinary medicine, human medicine, pharmacy, and nursing. Students will analyze real-world failures in health technology implementation to understand how early-stage needs assessment can guide more effective and user-centered design solutions.
- Prototyping & Iterative Design: This session introduces students to the principles and practices of low- and high-fidelity prototyping in healthcare technology design. Through hands-on activities, students will learn how to create, test, and refine clinical tool prototypes using iterative feedback from interdisciplinary users.
- Usability Testing & Evaluation: This session introduces students to methods for assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of digital health tools through usability testing. Students will conduct heuristic evaluations and apply usability metrics to analyze how design choices impact user performance, satisfaction, and clinical outcomes.
- Accessibility & Inclusive Design: This session emphasizes the importance of designing digital health tools that are accessible to users with diverse abilities, backgrounds, and clinical contexts. Students will explore inclusive design strategies and conduct scenario-based analyses to redesign existing technologies for improved accessibility and equity in healthcare delivery.
- Human Factors in Clinical Environments: This session examines how human factors such as cognitive load, workflow integration, and safety impact the design and use of clinical technologies. Students will explore how aligning digital tools with real-world clinical practices can reduce errors, enhance efficiency, and support provider well-being.
- Participatory & Co-Design Methods: This session explores participatory design approaches that actively involve clinicians, patients, and caregivers in the development of healthcare technologies. Students will simulate co-design sessions to practice collaborative ideation and ensure that solutions reflect the lived experiences and needs of diverse stakeholders.
- Digital Tools in Veterinary Medicine and Human Medicine: This session explores the design and evaluation of digital platforms used in veterinary and human medicine contexts, including diagnostic interfaces, patient outcome monitoring, and herd management systems. Students will assess the usability and clinical relevance of existing veterinary technologies and propose improvements based on human-centered design principles, while addressing challenges in adoption and integration.
- Digital Tools in Pharmacy & Nursing: This session examines how digital technologies support medication management, care coordination, and patient engagement in pharmacy and nursing contexts. Students will evaluate existing tools and redesign a medication adherence app to better meet the needs of clinicians and patients through human-centered design principles.
- Implementation & Adoption: This session addresses the practical challenges of integrating digital health technologies into clinical settings, including resistance to change, workflow disruption, and organizational readiness. Students will develop strategies for successful technology adoption by analyzing case studies and drafting policy briefs tailored to their professional domains.
- Evaluation Frameworks: This session introduces students to structured models such as TURF and RE-AIM for evaluating the effectiveness, reach, and sustainability of digital health interventions. Students will compare evaluation frameworks and apply them to assess the impact of design decisions on clinical workflows, patient outcomes, and system adoption.
Experiential Learning Outcomes
Creative
Articulate, implement, and reflect on a substantive application of their academic foundations to a real-world setting and/or challenge
