evPaeds: undergraduate clinical reasoning

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Reasoning Development
• Digital Health Tools

Background:

• Clinical reasoning is a critical skill for medical students.
• Current teaching methods include small group discussions and clinical attachments.
• Existing online resources like myPaediatrics offer limited interaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide enhanced opportunities for medical students to develop clinical reasoning skills.
• To address the limitations of existing virtual patient formats.
• To create an interactive learning tool tailored to undergraduate needs.

Main Methods:

• Development of a hybrid virtual patient software called evPaeds.
• Incorporation of a Paediatric Decision Tree for guided decision-making.
• Collaboration with students and teachers to ensure suitability.
• Integration of basic science references into virtual patient cases.

Main Results:

• evPaeds was developed to meet specific undergraduate learning needs.
• The software provides immediate feedback on investigations and management.
• It is valuable for both pre-clinical and clinical year students.
• evPaeds has been well-received by students.

Conclusions:

• evPaeds is a popular tool for practicing and developing clinical reasoning.
• It supports both individual and small group learning sessions.
• The software effectively enhances medical students' decision-making abilities.