Simulation of integrative physiology for medical education

• Published in: Morphologie Vol. 103; no. 343; pp. 187 - 193
• Main Authors: Hester, R.L., Pruett, W., Clemmer, J., Ruckdeschel, A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01.12.2019
• Subjects: Allied Health Occupations - education; Computer-Assisted Instruction; Education, Medical - methods; Electronic health record; Healthcare; Humans; Models, Biological; Physiology; Physiology - education; Problem-Based Learning - methods; Simulation; User-Computer Interface; VPH; Healthcare; Physiology; Electronic health record; Simulation; VPH
• ISSN: 1286-0115
• DOI: 10.1016/j.morpho.2019.09.004

•Medical education is founded on the understanding of physiology.•The richness and complexity of the subject suggest that more active learning methods may provide a richer introduction to the science as it applies to the practice of medicine.•Simulation has been previously used in basic science to better understand the interaction of physiological systems.•Simulation has grown to encompass computational simulation: virtual models of physiology and pathophysiology where students can see in a mechanistic setting how tissues and organs interact with one another to respond to changes in their environment.•In this manuscript, we discuss how simulation fits into the overall history of medical education, and detail two computational simulation products designed for medical education.•The first of these is an acute simulator, JustPhysiology, which reduces the scope of a large model, HumMod, down to a more focused interface.•The second is Sycamore, an electronic health record-delivered, real time simulator of patients designed to teach chronic patient care to students.•These products represent a new type of tool for medical and allied health students to encourage active learning and integration of basic science knowledge into clinical situations. Medical education is founded on the understanding of physiology. While lecture materials and reading contribute to the learning of physiology, the richness and complexity of the subject suggest that more active learning methods may provide a richer introduction to the science as it applies to the practice of medicine. Simulation has been previously used in basic science to better understand the interaction of physiological systems. In the current context, simulation generally refers to interactive case studies performed with a manikin or anatomic device. More recently, simulation has grown to encompass computational simulation: virtual models of physiology and pathophysiology where students can see in a mechanistic setting how tissues and organs interact with one another to respond to changes in their environment. In this manuscript, we discuss how simulation fits into the overall history of medical education, and detail two computational simulation products designed for medical education. The first of these is an acute simulator, JustPhysiology, which reduces the scope of a large model, HumMod, down to a more focused interface. The second is Sycamore, an electronic health record-delivered, real time simulator of patients designed to teach chronic patient care to students. These products represent a new type of tool for medical and allied health students to encourage active learning and integration of basic science knowledge into clinical situations. L’étude de la médecine est fondée entre autres sur la compréhension de la physiologie. Bien que l’apprentissage de la physiologie puisse se faire au moyen de cours magistraux et la lecture de contenus spécialisés, la richesse et la complexité du sujet laissent supposer que des méthodes d’apprentissage plus interactives puissent susciter une initiation plus élaborée de cette science et de son application à la pratique de la médecine. La simulation a précédemment été appliquée aux sciences fondamentales afin de mieux comprendre l’interaction entre systèmes physiologiques. Dans le contexte actuel, la simulation réfère en général à des études de cas interactives réalisées à l’aide d’un mannequin ou tout autre modèle anatomique. Plus récemment, la simulation s’est étendue à la simulation informatique incluant des modèles virtuels de physiologie et de physiopathologie à partir desquels les étudiants peuvent apprécier dans un contexte mécanistique comment les tissus et organes interagissent dans leur réponse à tout changement environnemental. Dans cet article nous présentons comment la simulation s’intègre dans l’histoire de l’éducation de la médecine et détaillons deux modèles de simulation informatique adaptés à l’éducation médicale. Le premier modèle, JustPhysiology, est un simulateur de courte durée qui réduit le champ d’action d’un simulateur plus complexe, HumMod, à une interface plus spécialisée. Le second outil est Sycamore, un dossier de santé électronique généré en temps réel et conçu pour un apprentissage de la pratique de soins médicaux en continu. Ces simulateurs informatiques représentent un nouvel outil pour les étudiants en médecine et autres professions de santé afin d’encourager un apprentissage actif et l’intégration de concepts scientifiques fondamentaux aux conditions cliniques.