For Medical Students

Gaming may be helpful in learning medical skills

Could the future of resident education lie in gaming? That's a question posed by one physician in an article featured in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education.

Cor J. Kalkman, MD, writes that games, which vary in sophistication and include simulations, are increasing in popularity as they allow students to freely make errors without interrupting complex care processes or harming patients. While the idea of using simulation to educate doctors is not unique, technology is helping bring innovative new techniques to medical students and residents in training, Dr. Kalkman writes.

These games range from simulators that help fledgling surgeons develop the necessary skills and eye-hand coordination to perform laparoscopic surgery, to software programs that help residents learn to prescribe medications accurately, to full-scale simulated operating rooms, Dr. Kalkman writes.

Dr. Kalkman cautions that the usefulness of a game is dependent on its realism, and there still is a ways to go before the technology behind simulation games is perfected and ready to be widely implemented.

However, their uses already expand beyond the resident and medical student sphere. A recent New York Times article details a new interactive video game at Northwestern Memorial Hospital that helps doctors identify deceptive behavior and converse with patients suffering from pain medication dependency and abuse issues.

Students gathering for AMA-MSS annual meeting

Hundreds of medical students from around the country will mobilize in Chicago this week for this year's AMA Medical Student Section (MSS) Annual Assembly Meeting, which will take place Thursday to Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

As part of the meeting, the AMA-MSS will host educational programs covering topics such as leadership, residency and student community service events. The section also will hold its Medical Specialty Showcase, featuring more than 50 specialties represented in the AMA House of Delegates.

The keynote presentation, "Follow Your Passion: Leading Change is a Contact Sport," will be given by Jeffrey W. Bailet, MD, president of Aurora Medical group, the largest integrated health care delivery system in Wisconsin.

Dr. Bailet will share his inspirational journey about how he came to medical school and will discuss the importance of physicians becoming leaders in health care, the necessary skills for leadership and his vision for the future of health care.

The AMA-MSS Assembly also will elect its 2012–13 Governing Council at this meeting. At the close of the meeting, chair-elect LeAnne Roberts will assume her position as chair, and Malini Daniel will begin her term as the medical student member of the AMA Board of Trustees.

Highlights of the meeting will appear in next week's AMA Wire. The meeting will take place prior to the Annual Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates. Learn more about the Annual Meeting.

Apply to serve on an AMA-MSS standing committee

Get more involved with the AMA Medical Student Section (MSS) by applying for an open position on one of its standing committees. Each year, the AMA-MSS Governing Council appoints AMA medical student members to serve one-year terms on the committees. Applications for 2012–13 are due June 30; the AMA-MSS will fill the committees in early July.

Visit the AMA-MSS Web site to learn more about each committee and to download an application.