Sheetal Kavia, Supriya Krishnan, Luke Woodham, Trupti Jivram, Narain Ramluchumun, Terry Poulton and Sean Hilton

St George’s University of London

Playing Virtual Patients through M-Learning

Overview

• Generation 4 project • Problem-Based Learning• Virtual Patients (VP)• Feedback • Assessment Virtual Patients • Mobile Survey• MedEdCases App• Feedback

• Grant from the Joint Information's System Committee for £200,000 under its ‘Curriculum Transformation’ stand

• Aim: create a more interactive, personalised VP/PBL curriculum

• Clinical PBL• For each 18 interactive cases we delivered 2 formative

assessment cases

Generation 4

Problem-Based Learning

‘Branched’ PBL‘Linear’ PBL

“An interactive computer simulation of real-life clinical scenarios for the purpose

of medical training, education, or assessment”

Medbiquitous White Paper, 2007Rachel Ellaway, Valerie Smothers

What is a Virtual Patient (VP)?

Example of a Case

Problem-based Learning

Student Feedback

“It’s getting you to think more, because you’re making choices”...

“.. in a branched case, [students] have the choices, can take it back and learn something new. I think that’s good.”

“..it is quite memorable, whereas in the paper case, you don’t have that, [students] just go to learn something in a very tedious way”

Tutor Feedback

“it really does seem to take the PBL to another level, that really mimics what they’re seeing when they go out into the clinical world.”

“... it really is a big educational step, and the students have said that, they’re on the wards, and then they go and do PBL, and the two are ‘cementing’ each other”

“.. Students slowed down to discuss options, instead of rushing through the early parts of the case “

Self-Assessment VPs

• 2 self assessment VPs were created as part of the G4 project for each PBL

• Why? - Students concentrate on the PBL case of the

week and not the broader learning objectives- More exposure to a greater range of patient

conditions

• Challenge:- Poor take up of the self assessment cases

Mobile Survey

SGUL Mobile Learning Survey

Virtual Patient App – MedEdCases

• MedEdCases app was designed for the G4 assessment VPs which is updated each week

• Cases can be downloaded by students over 3G network

• The cases can then be played on the move once downloaded

MedEdCases – Playing Cases

MedEdCases – Assessment Features

MedEdCases – Finishing the Case

Feedback

• From the 40% of students with iPhones 97/320 downloaded the app

• Feedback is on-going throughout the year

• Overall the app was scored 8/10

• 88% rated the app easy/very easy to use and none found it difficult/very difficult.

• 82% agreed the content of the app was useful

• It scored 4.2/5 for usefulness

19

  Very Easy Easy Neutral Difficult Very Difficult

Downloading cases 52.9% 41.2% 0.0% 5.9% 0.0%

Syncing to get new cases 47.1% 23.5% 23.5% 5.9% 0.0%

Navigating through the case 29.4% 35.3% 23.5% 11.8% 0.0%

Answering multiple choice questions 25.0% 62.5% 12.5% 0.0% 0.0%

Checking tick boxes 31.3% 62.5% 6.3% 0.0% 0.0%

Reading the text 25.0% 68.8% 6.3% 0.0% 0.0%

Viewing images 31.3% 50.0% 12.5% 0.0% 6.3%

Searching cases 12.5% 50.0% 18.8% 18.8% 0.0%

Viewing your high scores 18.8% 50.0% 12.5% 6.3% 12.5%

Getting support for the app 18.8% 31.3% 50.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Feedback

Feedback

Comments

What Next?

•What type of assessment tool would students find most useful? At what stage in their course?

•We shall be collecting anonymised data from student formative assessment

•Android version of the app to be released this Spring!

•Virtual Patient authoring app

http://www.mededcases.com