ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Physicians often are called on to participate in and interpret clinical trials, but their training in this area may not provide them with the inquiry skills that are needed. Simulations have the potential to be a promising tool for helping medical students learn the skills involved in clinical trial design. However, simulations may be complex and require additional scaffolding to support learning. DESCRIPTION: The goal of this study was to teach aspects of cancer clinical trial design through the scaffolded use of a simulation, the Oncology Thinking Cap. The software-based scaffolding provided guidance in designing the trial. Subsequently, the simulation allowed students to run the designed trial, which produces detailed patient histories. This feedback then could be used to redesign the trial. EVALUATION: Twenty-four 4th-year medical students were asked to design a clinical trial in advance, on paper, to test a new anticancer drug. Student groups then designed and simulated running the clinical trial assisted by the software environment. Instructional effectiveness was measured using a pretest-posttest design that included having students (a) write a group research proposal and (b) individually critique a flawed proposal. At the group level (N = 6 groups), students demonstrated a 34% increase in the number of elements of a clinical trial that they included in their research proposals. At the individual level (N = 24), students improved by 48% in their critiques of flawed proposals. CONCLUSIONS: Scaffolding embedded in the simulator is a promising approach to helping students learn about clinical trial design.
Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Computer Simulation , Education, Medical/methods , Research Design , HumansABSTRACT
This paper describes a software tool, the Oncology Thinking Cap (OncoTCAP) and reports on our efforts to develop a novice user interface to simplify the task of describing biological models of cancer and its treatment. Oncology Thinking Cap includes a modeling tool for making relationships explicit and provide dynamic feedback about the interaction between cancer cell kinetics, treatments, and patient outcomes. OncoTCAP supports student learning by making normally invisible processes visible and providing a representational tool that can be used to conduct thought experiments. We also describe our novice interface and report the results of initial usability testing.
Subject(s)
Computer Simulation , Computer-Assisted Instruction , Medical Oncology/education , Neoplasms , User-Computer Interface , Cell Cycle , Education, Medical, Undergraduate , Humans , Models, Biological , Monte Carlo Method , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Neoplasms/genetics , Neoplasms/pathology , Patient Simulation , Software , Software Design , Systems IntegrationABSTRACT
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has recently received considerable media attention. Health care workers, including respiratory care practitioners, are concerned about the many medical and psychosocial implications of the disease. This article reviews the epidemiology and clinical features of AIDS. Health care workers do not have a demonstrably higher incidence of AIDS infection than does the general population; risks to the respiratory care practitioner may be minimized by adherence to the suggested guidelines for infection control. Respiratory care practitioners are ethically bound to treat all patients, regardless of the nature of their disease; the guidelines given in this article will help practitioners do this.
