2018 EdTech Innovations Mini Grant Awards

A Novel Assessment Tool Utilizing A Cloud-based Simulation Platform to Evaluate How Medical Students Learn to Use Antimicrobials

Virtual patients

Case authoring

Student assessment

Description: There is a lack of effective assessment tools to evaluate students’ understanding of key concepts in medicine. In the field of microbiology, conceptual knowledge in antimicrobials is essential for the next-generation of clinicians given the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. However, it is difficult to assess such conceptual knowledge using traditional assessment methods such as multiple choice questions, which often promote recognition of facts rather than understanding and application of concepts. We propose adapting a new cloud-based assessment platform that incorporates key antimicrobial concepts into case simulations. Through the platform students are actively engaged in solving clinical problems in infectious diseases. Data generated from students’ interactions and decisions with the case simulations will help reveal the strengths, weaknesses and pitfalls in their thought process and their understanding of antimicrobial concepts, thereby providing valuable feedback and actionable insights for both students and faculty. This new approach has the potential to transform the way we conduct assessments in medical education.

Team:  Two Stanford faculty will undertake this project:

Sharon F. Chen, MD 
- Clinical Associate Professor, Pediatric Infectious Disease, Stanford University
- Co-Course director, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine 
- Dr. Chen has strong interests in creating novel assessment approaches that interrogate and probe students’ thinking and learning of concepts that are important to become an expert in their field.

Wui Ip, MD 
- Clinical Instructor, Pediatric Hospital Medicine, Stanford University
- Stanford Biodesign Faculty Fellow (2017-2018) 
Dr. Ip has strong interests in using design thinking and technology to advance medicine and medical education

Technology partnership:

Bao Truong, MD - Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellow, UCSF
Founder of Med2Lab Inc., creator of the cloud-based educational platform

Awarded: $8000.00

Virtual Reality Based Medical Education Medley

Description: Virtual reality (VR) in healthcare is revolutionizing how both patients and healthcare providers interface with the system and each other. This technology offers an immersive environment in which user attention is sustained, participation is offered excitedly, and the experience triggers strong memories of the content.

The three most common applications for such at present are in surgical training, pain management and therapeutic treatment of mental illness. We seek to help the medical community find other uses for this innovative technology. Our project will explore VR for other uses including medical simulation, medical humanities, patient experience, patient centered care, and disaster preparedness. We demonstrate our VR experiences at the School of Medicine in June 2019.

Team:

Henry A. Curtis, M.D., FACEP, FAAEM.
Henry is the medical humanities section director in the department of emergency medicine. He is currently the director of the He has followed his passion for filmmaking by pursuing a masters of fine arts in directing. He has taken coursework in the virtual reality medium during his study. He has also created multiple VR experiences and is currently analyzing the results of a study performed at Stanford University examining the use of virtual reality for changing mindset on the value of interruptions in the emergency department.

Cameron Mozayan, M.D.
Cameron is an intern in the department of emergency medicine residency. He is pursuing the medical humanities Advanced Clinical and Career Enrichment Line (ACCEL). He has a passion for VR and recently presented a poster on its potential at a conference while conducting research with Dr. Curtis.

Aussama Nassar, M.D.
Aussama is a surgeon in the department of trauma surgery. He values patient safety and simulation based training. He sees VR as the future modality for this training. He has worked with Dr. Curtis to create a multi-specialty collaborative VR experience capturing a trauma in-situ simulation and debriefing. Dr. Curtis plans to work with the team at EdTech to complete post-production of this in order to create a demonstration for medical educators on its potential.

Jason Lowe, M.D.
Jason is a pediatric emergency medicine physician who is a member of the medical humanities section at the department of emergency medicine. He uses VR in his daily practice in order to distract children from scary procedures. He is interested in discovering more applications of VR for pediatric therapeutics and education.

Anne Merritt, M.D.
Anne is an emergency medicine physician who is a member of the medical humanities section at the department of emergency medicine. She is a prolific writer. She is interested in creating meaningful story within the VR environment that can capture the heart and attention of the user.

Awarded: $7000.00

Have a larger project? 

Not sure what you need? 

Request a consultation to see how we may be of service.