Take for example this pilot study by the University of Florida, the Medical School of Georgia, and a couple of other universities.

They are using a ‘mixed reality human’ consisting of a life size computer avatar on a flat screen TV and a mannequin with a prosthetic breast.

Her name is Amanda Jones and her job is to help teach students how to perform breast exams, an intimate procedure that once could only be learned ‘on the job’. But now, thanks to Amanda, students can not only learn the correct examination procedure in a laboratory setting. But it’s not all about the physical.

Amanda talks – via a voice simulation system – and will maintain a conversation with the examiner, providing students with an opportunity to develop good doctor-patient communication skills.

The conversation is all unscripted. The student must draw Amanda’s medical history from her, asking questions and listening to her responses and concerns. And just like a real exam, this conversation takes place while the physical examination is being done.

And Amanda will know if the breast examination is not being done correctly. Sensors within the prosthetic breast provide pressure information depicted by colors on the virtual computer breast. The colors will change depending on whether or not the correct position is being palpated or not.

Amanda is also programmed to exhibit abnormal breast changes which the student should be able to discover through correct palpating and question asking techniques.

Definitely a win-win learning model for both medical students and their future patients.

(image source)

Post from: Healthbolt

Used for years as a  resource for medical students, this museum at the University of New South Wales has more than 2,000 cadaver parts on display.

It’s not for the weak of stomach. There’s a blackened smoker’s lung on one side and a  nectrotic ulcer the size of a cricket ball n the other. The two disembodied white thumbs, macabrely sit in a ’thumbs up’ gesture against a dark background (possibly a little med school humor). There’s a gangrenous foot, a nodular goitre, and an egg-shaped breast cancer.

It might sound pretty grisly but sights like this can be a powerful educational tool, giving people a first hand look at how lifestyle choices can affect the body.

The museum is located on the ground floor of the Samuels Building in the Upper Sydney Campus area

(source)

Post from: Healthbolt