SOURCE: StepStoneMed
Medical Educators Endorse the Virtual Patient Approach as a Highly Effective, Innovative Way to Bridge the Learning Gap Between Textbook and Patient Bedside
HOUSTON, TX–(Marketwire – December 7, 2010) – StepStoneMed™, the emerging leader in innovative solutions for medical education, today announced a new and innovative virtual patient module, Classic Cardiac Codes©. Designed to teach the latest advancements in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Classic Cardiac Codes is a series of web-based interactive lessons designed to teach clinical medicine to students and physicians. The module features ten virtual-patient encounters specifically created to advance learning and retention of some of the most urgent conditions faced by healthcare professionals, regardless of their area of specialization. Traditional resources in medical education and CME are text-based and often dry and boring. StepStoneMed lessons feature memorable, well-developed characters designed to personify the medical conditions they each represent. Learners are guided by the “StepStones,” a navigational progress bar and electronic flashcard system, designed to teach and reinforce the correct sequence of evidence-based medical management decisions. Each case ends with a review of the appropriate protocols, standards of care, and additional resources for the learner. Preliminary studies have demonstrated that medical students using StepStoneMed test at significantly higher levels of mastery and retain their knowledge longer than students depending on traditional methods alone.
Medicine is best learned at the bedside, where book-based facts about diseases, symptoms, and appropriate interventions are translated into patient-based knowledge. Unfortunately, exposure to patients with a variety of conditions is severely limited during traditional medical education. The result is insecure young doctors, inefficient patient care, and escalating costs for diagnostic testing. StepStoneMed has been designed specifically to address this limitation, using the proven educational psychology principles and the latest e-learning technologies.
“This novel approach to medical education incorporates the best of how students, residents and practicing physicians learn. It is interactive, accurate, and simulates the complex way that doctors learn to make decisions in emergency situations. This is a great way to learn how to navigate emergency situations, or to practice these scenarios from time to time to keep these critical skills up to date,” said Mary L. Brandt, MD, Professor and Vice Chair, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine.
According to one of StepStoneMed’s founders, David Eagleman, PhD, Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, “This is the future of learning. As neuroscience demonstrates, we learn best when we’re presented with active decision-making, emotional salience, and memorable narrative. These patients — and the lessons they teach — are impossible to forget.”
Caroline Popper, MD, MPH, President, BCM Technologies, Inc., said, “StepStoneMed combines great medical education with innovation in information technology. The confluence of Healthcare and Technology is a major market trend, and BCM Technologies is very excited to work with terrific Baylor entrepreneurs in this company.”
“StepStoneMed bridges the gap from books to bedside with our virtual patients, cleverly designed to personify disease in a memorable way. Our structured guidance through correct diagnosis and intervention protocols ensures effective learning for every medical specialty,” said Cynthia Sheridan, Chief Executive Officer, StepStoneMed. “This new module of cases has been proven to dramatically increase med students’ understanding and long term retention of information.”
StepStoneMed’s interactive learning module, Classic Cardiac Codes, is available today. The module is cost-effective and priced specifically for medical students. For a limited time, students can get two of the cases at no charge by using their medical school email address when they register at www.stepstonemed.com. StepStoneMed modules are also available for academic institutions on a departmental or campus-wide basis.
About StepStoneMed
StepStoneMed was created by a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine, under the mentorship of Professors of Surgery and Neuroscience. Their application is the only virtual patient case tool that offers structured, evidence-based learning in the form of case modules for all the medical specialties. StepStoneMed provides a memorable connection between patient and disease, is readily available to every student over the web, and contains the most current protocols and standards of care.
StepStoneMed is led by a team of seasoned professionals with a unique blend of experience in medicine, medical education, e-learning, software commercialization and serious game design. For more information, visit www.stepstonemed.com.
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Ruth Davidson
StepStoneMed, Inc.
713-795-0105
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