Newsletter

The Interactive Patient

Reviewer: Olivier C. Wenker, M.D., D.E.A.A.

The University of Texas

MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

wenker@wentek.com

The Interactive Patient website is provided by the Marshall University School of Medicine and demonstrates how to take advantage of interactivity on the Internet. The website contains a program that allows the user to simulate an actual patient encounter. It was designed to be an interactive teaching tool for medical students, residents and physicians. Only one case report is currently available. The case is divided into 4 sections: history, physical exam, laboratory/X-ray, and diagnosis. In the history section, the user finds him-/herself in the doctor's office. A short story about the patient's situation is provided and the user is encouraged to type and submit some questions. The program will answer the questions. The next step is to perform a virtual physical exam. One can inspect, palpate, or auscultate the patient by clicking on a specific body part of the photographic picture of the patient. A picture of the throat will be provided if for example one clicks on the mouth of the patient. Auscultation of sounds is possible by using the QuickTime plug-in. One can listen to the heart, the lungs or the abdomen. In the laboratory/X-ray section, results from a variety of tests such as vital signs, electrolytes, urine analysis, blood cultures, and more can be requested. In the radiology box one can choose between pictures from X-rays, pyelograms, or ultrasounds. Once the diagnosis has been made, one can proceed to the diagnosis and treatment section. A diagnosis can be chosen from a pop-up menu. One or more treatment options can be selected from a list of therapy suggestions. Additional comments can be entered prior to submitting the answers to the Marshall University School of Medicine. The user should then get a reply via e-mail within about one week.

This web site is an excellent example for online interactivity. It demonstrates some of the big advantages of the web. It has high entertainment and good educational values. It shows how electronic publishing can distinguish itself from the traditional print media. The site takes advantage of the possibilities of modern teaching tools such as an unlimited amount of colored pictures, sounds, and direct interaction with a virtual patient. Patient simulators have gained wide acceptance throughout the anesthesia community. Further development of patient simulators may in the future result in advanced and interactive online teaching programs similar to the one described in this review.

The URL (URL = Uniform Resource Locator = address on the Internet) of this web site is: http://medicus.marshall.edu/medicus.htm