SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--i-Human Patients (IHP) today introduced 150 new Symptom to Diagnosis® simulated patient encounter cases, authored by top U.S. clinical educators. The new cases take a symptom-based approach to teaching students and residents the diagnosis process, realistically simulating a patient encounter by including common patient presentations and complaints. The project is supported by the Reliance Foundation, an initiative of Reliance Industries Ltd., under the leadership of Dr. Vinay Kumar, Alice Hogge and Arthur A. Baer Distinguished Service Professor; Chairman, Department of Pathology, Biological Sciences Division and The Pritzker School of Medicine; and senior editor of Robbins Pathology textbooks.
The peer-reviewed i-Human cases were developed under license from the University of Chicago by a multi-institutional consortium of authors under the direction of Dr. Scott Stern at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Stern is the lead author of “Symptom to Diagnosis: An Evidence-Based Guide,” the leading textbook on evidence-based clinical reasoning. Other contributors include clinical faculty from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, UCSF School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Rush Medical College, and 14 leading medical schools in India.
“An experienced clinician forms the framework of a diagnosis by charting a patient’s symptoms: listening to a cough or evaluating the patient’s pain threshold, for example,” said Craig Knoche, President and Co-founder of IHP. “The new 150 Symptom to Diagnosis cases for the i-Human Patients platform prepare students for real-life patient encounters, where evaluating a patient’s symptoms begins the moment they see, hear, and touch their patient for the first time. The cases also augment the symptoms and diagnoses that students and residents may not be exposed to in their early years of live patient training.”
The i-Human Patients interactive learning platform replicates a patient encounter by simulating the diagnostic process, including taking medical and family history, assessing vital signs, performing physical examinations, ordering and evaluating tests, and selecting and ranking differentials. Like a flight simulator for health care students and experienced clinicians, i-Human develops and reinforces the diagnostic reasoning process, promoting more accurate, cost-effective assessments and helping to reduce medical misdiagnoses.
The new cases feature common symptoms such as chest pain, dyspnea, acute abdominal pain, headache, dizziness, fever, jaundice, anemia, acute kidney injury, hyponatremia, syncope, gastrointestinal bleeding, back pain, and delirium, reflecting what students and residents will encounter in a clinical setting. The world’s largest repository of medical evidence, including differentials for complaints, epidemiology, risk factors, specificities, and sensitivities for the signs, symptoms, and test findings associated with each differential, was developed as part of the rollout. New Symptom to Diagnosis cases for the i-Human Patients platform include cirrhosis, malaria, dengue, meningitis, heart failure, Hepatitis (A, B, and C), and depression.
“Dr. Stern’s seminal work has been re-imagined for interactive online competency development through i-Human’s Symptom to Diagnosis cases,” said Norm Wu, CEO of IHP. “The addition of these 150 symptom-specific case studies hands students another tool to fine tune their diagnostic skills. By incorporating these new cases into their curricula, educators gain valuable active learning modules for teaching students the detective work of a patient encounter.”
IHP is now taking orders for availability starting in January 2016.
About i-Human Patients, Inc.
i-Human Patients, Inc. develops educational and competency assessment technology for the health care professional market, including its flagship i-Human Patients® platform, launched in November 2012. Cloud-based and interactive, the i-Human case player improves and evaluates competencies using active learning strategies and content developed by almost 100 leading educators.
IHP is collaborating with the Reliance Foundation, an Indian not-for-profit organization that has provided generous support to enhance the i-Human platform and add numerous new simulated patient encounter cases. The partnership aims to provide high-quality virtual health care training to students and clinicians, and equip health care professionals to achieve greater standards of excellence. IHP has also received financial support from the National Science Foundation and the American Medical Association. i-Human Patients, Inc. is based in Sunnyvale, California.
About Reliance Foundation
Reliance Foundation is an initiative of Reliance Industries Ltd. Among India’s largest social initiatives, it is focused on addressing the nation’s development challenges in domains of Rural Transformation, Education, Health, Sports, Urban Renewal, and Arts, Culture and Heritage. Its hands-on approach has directly impacted over 5,500 villages across India.
Led by Founder and Chairperson Mrs. Nita Ambani, Reliance Foundation reaches out to the marginalized sections of the population living in remote corners of the country, to provide them with sustainable livelihoods.
Reliance Foundation audaciously inspires and facilitates transformative change to ensure higher quality of life by developing the nation’s social capital.
Since its inception in 2010, Reliance Foundation has impacted over four million lives through its work.
Symptom to Diagnosis is a registered trademark of the University of Chicago.
i-Human Patients is a registered trademark of i-Human Patients, Inc.
