Abstract
This paper outlines the development of a Virtual Patient style tablet application for the purpose of teaching decision making to undergraduate students of medicine. In order to objectively compare some of the various technologies available, the application was written using two different languages: one as a native iPad app written in Objective-C, the other as a web-based app written in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. The requirements for both applications were identical, and this paper will discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of both technologies from both a HCI point of view and from a technological point of view. Application deployment, user-computer interaction, usability, security, and cross-platform interoperability are also discussed. The motivation for developing this application, entitled Casebook, was to create a platform to test the novel approach of using real patient records to teach undergraduate students. These medical records form patient cases, and these cases are navigated using the Casebook application with the goal of teaching decision making and clinical reasoning; the pretext being that real cases more closely match the context of the hospital ward and thereby increase authentic activity. Of course, patient cases must possess a certain level of quality to be useful. Therefore, the quality of documentation and, most importantly, quality’s impact on healthcare is also discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bergman, E.M., Van Der Vleuten, C.P.M., Scherpbier, A.J.J.A.: Why don’t they know enough about anatomy? A narrative review. Medical Teacher 33(5), 403–409 (2011)
Bowen, J.L.: Educational strategies to promote clinical diagnostic reasoning. New England Journal of Medicine 355(21), 2217–2225 (2006)
Colliver, J.: Effectiveness of problem-based learning curricula: research and theory. Academic Medicine 75(3), 259–266 (2000)
Cook, D., Erwin, P., Triola, M.: Computerized virtual patients in health professions education: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Academic Medicine 85(10), 1589–1602 (2010)
Croskerry, P.: The importance of cognitive errors in diagnosis and strategies to minimize them. Academic Medicine 78(8), 775–780 (2003)
Dammers, J., Spencer, J., Thomas, M.: Using real patients in problem-based learning: students’ comments on the value of using real, as opposed to paper cases, in a problem-based learning module in general practice. Medical Education 35(1), 27–34 (2001)
Dolmans, D., Schmidt, H.: The advantages of problem-based curricula. Postgraduate Medical Journal 72(851), 535–538 (1996)
eViP Electronic Virtual Patients: About Virtual Patients, http://www.virtualpatients.eu/about/about-virtual-patients/ (accessed July 2011)
Eva, K.W.: What every teacher needs to know about clinical reasoning. Medical Education 39(1), 98–106 (2005)
Ganslandt, T., Krieglstein, C., Mueller, M., Senninger, N., Prokosch, H.: Electronic documentation in medicine; flexible concepts versus isolated solutions. Zentralblatt fuer Gynaekologie 122(8), 445–451 (2000)
Garcia, J., De Moss, A.: Sencha Touch in Action, 1st edn. Manning Publications (2011)
Goldacre, M., Lambert, I., Evans, J., Turner, G.: PRHOs’ views on whether their experience at medical school prepared them well for heir jobs: national questionnaire survey. BMJ 326, 1011–1101 (2003)
Huang, G., Reynolds, R., Candler, C.: Virtual patient simulation at US and Canadian medical schools. Academic Medicine 82(5), 446 (2007)
Illing, J., Morrow, G., Kergon, C., Burford, B., Davies, C., Baldauf, B., Morrison, G., Allen, M., Spencer, J., Peile, E., Johnson, N.: Do medical graduates need more on-the-job experience? A prospective qualitative study comparing three diverse UK medical schools. Medical Education 43, 39 (2009)
Johnson, S., Bakken, S., Dine, D., Hyun, S., Mendonça, E., Morrison, F., Bright, T., Van Vleck, T., Wrenn, J., Stetson, P.: An electronic health record based on structured narrative. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 15(1), 54–64 (2008)
Lave, J., Wenger, E.: Situated Learning. Cambridge University Press (1991)
jQuery Mobile Framework: jQuery Mobile, http://jquerymobile.com/ (accessed July 2011)
Norman, G.: Research in clinical reasoning: past history and current trends. Medical Education 39(4), 418–427 (2005)
Oxentenko, A.S., West, C.P., Popkave, C., Weinberger, S.E., Kolars, J.C.: Time spent on clinical documentation, a survey of internal medicine residents and program directors. Archives of Internal Medicine 170(4), 377–380 (2010)
Stark, J.: Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa, 1st edn. O’Reilly (2010)
Stead, W., Searle, J., Fessler, H., Smith, J., Shortliffe, E.: Biomedical informatics: changing what physicians need to know and how they learn. Academic Medicine 86(4), 429–434 (2011)
Williams, B.: Case based learning—a review of the literature: is there scope for this educational paradigm in prehospital education? Emergency Medicine Journal 22(8), 577–581 (2005)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bloice, M., Simonic, KM., Kreuzthaler, M., Holzinger, A. (2011). Development of an Interactive Application for Learning Medical Procedures and Clinical Decision Making. In: Holzinger, A., Simonic, KM. (eds) Information Quality in e-Health. USAB 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7058. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25364-5_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25364-5_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-25363-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-25364-5
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)