Biomedical Sciences Pathway

The Biomedical Sciences Pathway is supported by Project Lead the Way and is recognized by the UC's and CSU's as meeting the "d" Science requirement. Pathway students will be exposed to career exploration in the field of Biomedical Sciences, engage in project-based curriculum and integrate core curriculum into their career classes. The Pathway class experience exposes students to "real-world" experiences including guest speakers, field trips and mentorships. The biomedical pathway also collaborates with UCSD Medical Center, Scripps Hospitals, VA Health Care System, The Scripps Research Institute and Sanford Burnham  to develop a comprehensive internship program that ALL students participate in during their second semester of senior year. 

In order to continue through the pathway, students must maintain a "C" average and a "S" in citizenship throughout every year. 


Foundation Courses

• Principles of the Biomedical Sciences (PBS)
  • Students investigate various health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, sickle-cell disease, hypercholesterolemia, and infectious diseases. They determine the factors that led to the death of a fictional person, and investigate lifestyle choices and medical treatments that might have prolonged the person’s life. The activities and projects introduce students to human physiology, medicine, and research processes. This course provides an overview of all the courses in the Biomedical Sciences program and lay the scientific foundation for subsequent courses. This course is designed for 9th grade students.
• Human Body Systems (HBS)
  • Students examine the interactions of human body systems as they explore identity, power, movement, protection, and homeostasis. Students design experiments, investigate the structures and functions of the human body, and use data acquisition software to monitor body functions such as muscle movement, reflex and voluntary action, and respiration. Exploring science in action, students build organs and tissues on a skeletal manikin, work through interesting real world cases and often play the roles of biomedical professionals to solve medical mysteries. This course is designed for 10th grade students.
• Medical Interventions (MI)
  • Students investigate a variety of interventions involved in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease as they follow the life of a fictitious family. The course is a “How-To” manual for maintaining overall health and homeostasis in the body. Students explore how to prevent and fight infection; screen and evaluate the code in human DNA; prevent, diagnose and treat cancer; and prevail when the organs of the body begin to fail. Through these scenarios, students are exposed to a range of interventions related to immunology, surgery, genetics, pharmacology, medical devices, and diagnostics. This course is designed for 11th grade students.

Capstone Course

• Biomedical Innovation (BI)
  • Students design innovative solutions for the health challenges of the 21st century. They work through progressively challenging open-ended problems, addressing topics such as clinical medicine, physiology, biomedical engineering, and public health. They have the opportunity to work on an independent project with a mentor or advisor from a university, hospital, research institution, or the biomedical industry. Throughout the course, students are expected to present their work to an audience of STEM professionals. This course is designed for 12th grade students.

This information obtained from: http://www.pltw.org/our-programs/high-school-biomedical-sciences-program


For more information visit the Project Lead the Way website.