UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Grant: $36,625 - National Institutes of Health - Sep. 3, 2009
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Award Description: This work proposes to expose medical students to abnormal clinical conditions through the use of immersive virtual patients (VPs). Immersive VPs are highly interactive, computer-generated, life-size virtual 3D characters. As medical educators have difficulty in providing students with sufficient experiences with abnormal clinical conditions, testing students using patients with abnormal findings has been difficult to plan. VPs can fill this critical education need for interactive exposure. The aim is to use a VP system to provide students with interactions and feedback in scenarios involving abnormal clinical findings. The dynamic attribute of VPs provides significant benefits in presenting abnormal conditions. The goal is to establish the use of VPs as a powerful addition to SPs and physical simulators in the medical education curriculum. Aim #1 – Develop a set of abnormal clinical condition interactions A set of linked abnormal clinical conditions scenarios will be developed. In these scenarios, a medical student will interview a VP complaining of 'blurred vision’. The student will be instructed to obtain a clinical history to differentiate between possible diagnoses. The student will use a combination of asking questions, using gestures (such as 'follow my finger ), and administering exams, such as visual acuity. The VP will display any of a variety of possible conditions: retinal detachment, corneal ulcer, or brain tumor. Proficient diagnosis involves obtaining critical information, observing visual cues, and exam administration and interpretation skills. Aim #2 – Evaluate if VPs effectively augment standard education tools for teaching abnormal clinical conditions A user study will be conducted to evaluate if the VP’s high level of interactivity and immersion translates into an effective educational approach. 40 3rd-year medical students will be read standard textbook and journal articles on blurred vision. Group Baseline (n=20) will receive only this standard instruction. Group VP (n=20) will conduct a series of three interviews with a VP with blurred vision. In each interview, the VP will have a different condition. After the experience, the system will provide immediate feedback. Later, Group VP will visualize and replay their VP interaction. Both groups will be tested on their understanding of concepts and diagnosis skills of blurred vision.
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This award's data was last updated on Sep. 3, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
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