071-AP-98

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Andrew Porterfield
(949) 824-3969
[email protected]

UC IRVINE AWARDED GRANT TO MEASURE HOW STUDENTS USE COMPUTERS TO QUICKLY ANSWER MEDICAL QUESTIONS

Irvine, Calif., May 19, 1998 ó A few years from now, during a checkup, your physician will turn to a wristband computer and type in a few words. Seconds later, the doctor will have specific answers to questions about a new drug or diagnostic test. Sound far-fetched? This futuristic scenario is in development stages at UC Irvineís College of Medicine. Recently, the medical school was awarded $50,000 by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) to begin a pilot program that measures how well medical students are trained to ask focused clinical questions, rapidly retrieve information from a variety of sources, and apply the data to specific patient problems. Ultimately, the program will measure the potential for these students to integrate information research (called "informatics") into their professional lives as doctors. "Since information technology can now be applied to routine daily patient care, medical informatics education should become an integral component of a medical school curriculum," said Dr. Michael Prislin, research director of medical education at UCI and the lead researcher for the pilot program. "Little is known about the best way to teach these skills, or about the ability of students and physicians to apply them during a typical patient visit," said Sandra Martin, the informatics development specialist on the research team. The two-year grant opens the door for the researchers to use World Wide Web technology to develop: 1) a tool that evaluates studentsí information retrieval skills and provides immediate feedback during the learning process, and 2) exercises in clinical settings (using standardized "patients" played by actors), which assess the studentsí proficiency in applying their retrieval skills to clinical problems. "The pace of medical practice is pretty rapid, and physicians rely on their experience and training to make decisions," Prislin said. "With this program, theyíll be able to add immediate research data to that mix of education and experience."

Studies show that physicians pursue only 30 percent of questions that arise during patient visits. In addition to time pressures on doctors, issues ranging from unusual viral infections to the economics of managed care have made medical practice increasingly complex. "Clearly, there is a need to have accurate information readily available. With this award, weíre in the process of measuring how well weíre preparing practitioners for the 21st century," Prislin said.

The UCI researchers will use the evaluation methods developed under the NBME grant in courses that prepare students for patient contact. Here, students are confronted with common medical scenarios such as an elderly person complaining of chest pain, a 5-year-old with a bacterial ear infection, or a man with suspected lung cancer.

"Theyíll write up a list of problems that need to be addressed, such as drug interactions or resistance to antibiotics," Martin said. "Theyíll need the computer to answer those specific questions on their problem lists." Then, students will be able to get instant feedback on how well they gathered information. Students will conduct these online searches during interviews with surrogate patients. "Weíll evaluate how well they form clinical questions, whether theyíre retrieving solid, clinical data, and how quickly they retrieve it. Itís important to see the quality of data, and to make the time spent doing research as efficient as possible," Martin said.

The program will then evaluate how well the students apply what theyíve learned to patient care. "During the studentsí clinical courses, weíll be looking at how well they add computerized searches to making diagnostic studies, or creating a treatment strategy," Prislin said. "We want to see how well they add their computer skills to memory and training."

The National Board of Medical Examiners funds medical school programs that have the potential to advance the theory, methods and practice of assessment in medical education.

Prislin is a professor of family medicine and director of the newly developed research division at the College of Medicineís medical education office. Sandra Martin is a medical information development specialist at UC Irvineís science library, developing courses and giving informatics instruction to medical students and other health professionals. Working with Prislin and Martin are Sue Ahearn, who will help develop the pilot informatics test stations, and Thomas Taylor, a research statistician with the College of Medicineís epidemiology division, who is the projectís data analyst.

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