A new real-time data tracker from Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine will help medical students know exactly how well they are meeting educational objectives, and a mobile app component will allow busy students to input information on the go.
The school’s REDEI system (Research and Evaluation Data for Educational Improvement) will let medical students, their coaches and school leaders immediately input and track evaluation information, displaying a snapshot of each student’s performance in real time.
Patricia Carney, PhD, professor of family medicine and professor of public health and preventive medicine at the OHSU (pictured left), presented the system at a special consortium meeting of 11 medical schools that received AMA grants as part of the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative. The schools met at Vanderbilt University in September to discuss the progress they’re making in preparing tomorrow’s physicians for the rapid changes in medicine.
“We really wanted to be able to help students navigate their educational experiences and provide information to the coaches and learners that would help develop faculty and develop the students as master adaptive learners,” Dr. Carney said.
Having data on tests, quizzes and instructional quality will allow students to immediately reflect on areas they need to improve upon—a necessary skill for lifelong learners.
The mobile app component of the system will allow students to enter data about their clinical experiences, which will upload into an educational portfolio.
“The learners have no time to do anything—that’s why we created the phone app, so they can just do a tap and enter,” Dr. Carney said. “We wanted them to enter the data when they were working with their preceptors and not have to keep it in their heads until they got home.”
Giving students access to this information will help them navigate their educational experiences.
Students “can choose settings and other experiences that they have not yet explored to be sure their training is very comprehensive and tailored to meet their educational goals,” Dr. Carney said. “Our primary goal at OHSU is customized education. Thus, the REDEI system is key to allowing this to happen while ensuring that our physician graduates are the best they can be.”
Dr. Carney and George Mejicano, MD, senior associate dean for education at OHSU, are working with the AMA and the Accelerating Change in Medical Education consortium schools to keep the system open-source and exportable, potentially allowing other schools to build similar systems.
This post is the final installment in a brief series on new medical education technology published at AMA Wire® over the last few weeks. See the first post, second post and third post at AMA Wire.
