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Smartphone application of primary care guidelines used in education of medical students.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The guidelines of the German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians (DEGAM) on frequent and important reasons for encounter in Primary Care play a central role in the teaching of Family Medicine. They were edited by the authors into an app for mobile phones, making them available at all times to General Practitioners and medical students. This study examines the issue: how useful do students consider this application within their learning process in Family Medicine? METHOD: The short versions of the 15 DEGAM guidelines were processed as a web app (for all smartphone software systems) including offline utilisation, and offered to students in the Family Medicine course, during clinical attachments in General Practice, on elective compulsory courses or for their final year rotation in General Practice. The evaluation was made with a structured survey using the feedback function of the Moodle learning management system [http://www.elearning-allgemeinmedizin.de] with Likert scales and free-text comments. RESULTS: Feedback for evaluation came from 14 (25%) of the student testers from the Family Medicine course (9), the clinical attachment in General Practice (1), the final year rotation in General Practice (1) and elective compulsory courses (4). Students rated the app as an additional benefit to the printed/pdf-form. They use it frequently and successfully during waiting periods and before, during, or after lectures. In addition to general interest and a desire to become acquainted with the guidelines and to learn, the app is consulted with regard to general (theoretical) questions, rather than in connection with contact with patients. Interest in and knowledge of the guidelines is stimulated by the app, and on the whole the application can be said to be well suited to the needs of this user group. DISCUSSION: The students evaluated the guidelines app positively: as a modern way of familiarising them with the guidelines and expanding their knowledge, particularly through its use in waiting periods and the attractive medium smartphone. However, the latter prevents a mandatory curricular use in compulsory courses, since not all students use smartphones. It is a meaningful addition to existing teaching materials and supports evidence-based teaching in Family Medicine and is suitable for use not only in university course teaching but also during clinical training.

SUBMITTER: Waldmann UM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3589688 | biostudies-other | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Smartphone application of primary care guidelines used in education of medical students.

Waldmann Uta-Maria UM Weckbecker Klaus K

GMS Zeitschrift fur medizinische Ausbildung 20130221 1

<h4>Background and objective</h4>The guidelines of the German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians (DEGAM) on frequent and important reasons for encounter in Primary Care play a central role in the teaching of Family Medicine. They were edited by the authors into an app for mobile phones, making them available at all times to General Practitioners and medical students. This study examines the issue: how useful do students consider this application within their learning process ...[more]

PMID: 23467657

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Project description:BackgroundIn medical students' workplace learning, feedback is important for effective learning regarding communication and clinical skills. The provision of multisource feedback (MSF) in clinical practice with focus on the patient's perspective is rarely addressed in the literature. The overall objective was to explore the experience of MSF in medical students' clinical learning in primary healthcare (PHC).MethodsIn the study, patients provided feedback by use of the Patient Feedback in Clinical Practice (PFCP) questionnaire. By use of adapted PFCP questionnaire versions peers and clinical supervisors provided feedback and students performed a self-evaluation. The MSF learning activity was evaluated using surveys (4-point Likert scale/open-ended questions), (students (n = 26), peers (n = 9) and clinical supervisors (n = 7)). Data were analysed using descriptive and qualitative content analysis.ResultsResults (mean 4-point Likert scale) from participants evaluation of the MSF learning activity visualises the value of feedback in terms of patient-centred communication (students 3.50, peers 2.44 and clinical supervisors 3.57), guidance for further training (students 3.14, peers 2.89 and clinical supervisors 3.00) and clarification of pedagogical assignment (students 3.14, peers 2.89 and clinical supervisors 3.00). Thematic analysis of participants' free-text answers in the evaluation surveys resulted in three themes: (1) applicability of the MSF, (2) MSF - collaborative learning process and (3) MSF as a facilitator in students' clinical skills development. The participants experienced that the written MSF provided multi-facetted perspectives, which contributed to students' and peers' clinical and communication learning. MSF experience also enhanced clinical supervisors' feedback regarding communication skills, targeting the supervisors' pedagogical assignment.ConclusionOur findings indicate that MSF provided directly after a patient encounter, using the PFCP questionnaire as feedback provider, could be an adequate learning activity for medical students' workplace learning. The MSF, provided through the PFCP questionnaire, was experienced to neutralise and operationalise the provision of concrete feedback, facilitating peers' learning and clinical supervisors' tuition. The results visualise the importance of patients in MSF, as a valuable resource in students' workplace learning. Our study implies that this learning activity could be an applicable tool to facilitate learning and pedagogic development in clinical education in PHC.

Project description:BackgroundSince the start of out-of-hours (OOH) primary care clinics, the number of patient consultations has been increasing. Triage plays an important role in patient selection for a consultation, and in providing reassurance and self-management advice.ObjectiveWe aimed to investigate whether the smartphone application "Should I see a doctor?" (in Dutch:"moet ik naar de dokter?") could guide patients in appropriate consultation at OOH clinics by focusing on four topics: 1) app usage, 2) user satisfaction, 3) whether the app provides the correct advice, and 4) whether users intend to follow the advice.Design and settingA prospective, cross-sectional study amongst app users in a routine primary care setting.MethodsThe app is a self-triage tool for acute primary care. A built-in questionnaire asked users about the app's clarity, their satisfaction and whether they intended to follow the app's advice (n = 4456). A convenience sample of users was phoned by a triage nurse (reference standard) to evaluate whether the app's advice corresponded with the outcome of the triage call (n = 126). Suggestions of phoned participants were listed.ResultsThe app was used by patients of all ages, also by parents for their children, and mostly for abdominal pain, skin disorders and cough. 58% of users received the advice to contact the clinic, 34% a self-care advice and 8% to wait-and-see. 65% of users intended to follow the app's advice. The app was rated as 'neutral' to 'very clear' by 87%, and 89% were 'neutral' to 'very satisfied'. In 81% of participants the app's advice corresponded to the triage call outcome, with sensitivity, specificity, positive- and negative predictive values of 84%, 74%, 88% and 67%, respectively.ConclusionThe app "Should I see a doctor?" could be a valuable tool to guide patients in contacting the OOH primary care clinic for acute care. To further improve the app's safety and efficiency, triaging multiple symptoms should be facilitated, and more information should be provided to patients receiving a wait-and-see advice.

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Smartphone application of primary care guidelines used in education of medical students.

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Smartphone application of primary care guidelines used in education of medical students.

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