As the demand for skilled healthcare professionals increases, innovative medical educational solutions are becoming essential. By leveraging technology, educators can customize educational approaches tailored to the unique learning styles of each trainee. This shift toward precision medical education not only helps improve learning outcomes but also ensures that future healthcare providers are well-equipped to deliver high-quality patient care.
To support its commitment to enhancing educational outcomes and institutional effectiveness, MedHub hosted a webinar called “Improving Learning Outcomes with Modern Medical Education Solutions.” The webinar featured Dr. Glenn Woodworth, professor and Director of Education Scholarship at Oregon Health and Science University, and Dr. Nathaniel Mohney, Assistant Professor of Neurology at West Virginia University. Both experts shared their experiences in using technology to enhance medical training for their learners.
Embracing Precision Medical Education for Learners
As medical education evolves, new approaches are being developed to meet the diverse needs of learners. Precision medical education involves tailoring learning experiences to individual learning styles, instead of taking a “one size fits all” approach. Dr. Woodworth notes that precision education is not just about delivering content but ensuring that it is the right content at the right time for each learner.
“Precision medical education is akin to a quality improvement cycle,” he explained. “It’s about taking data, analyzing it, deploying interventions, and then adjusting based on the outcomes.”
Delivering Educational Content to Trainees
During his presentation, Dr. Woodworth showcased a mobile app currently in development at Emory University. The app provides anesthesiology trainees with a personalized learning feed and uses clinical data and competency assessments to deliver articles, podcasts, case studies, and other content tailored to the learner’s current needs.
“We use the learner’s knowledge, skills, and experience to prioritize content. If a learner has low experience with asthma, for example, content related to asthma management will be elevated in their learning feed,” Dr. Woodworth notes.
To achieve this level of personalization, Dr. Woodworth’s team uses artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) to analyze text generated by clinical events and learner interactions. The app also utilizes traditional recommender systems, similar to those used by platforms like Netflix and Spotify, to predict content that learners might be interested in based on their past interactions.
“It’s about understanding the learner’s preferences and predicting what they’ll find valuable,” Dr. Woodworth said.
Choosing BoardVitals for Resident Education
As Dr. Woodworth showcased, using the right content at the right time is key to success for learners. Dr. Nathaniel Mohney, Assistant Professor of Neurology at West Virginia University, built on this idea, sharing how using BoardVitals has been pivotal in addressing the challenges of maintaining high board pass rates within the WVU Neurology Residency Program.
Dr. Mohney began by noting that until 2018, the WVU Neurology Residency Program maintained a 100% board pass rate. However, in recent years, pass rates dropped to between 60% and 80% for both the Neurology board exam and the Neurology In-Service Exam.
To address these challenges, WVU adopted BoardVitals, a question bank and curriculum assessment tool, for students. Dr. Mohney outlined WVU’s approach to remediation, which involves identifying at-risk residents based on their in-service exam performance. BoardVitals assessment tools help with this approach, allowing program directors to track resident performance and provide targeted feedback.
“We can see how many questions each resident has completed and their percentage of correct answers,” he noted. “This data helps us identify areas where residents may need additional support.”
Analyzing Resident Performance
Dr. Mohney shared how WVU uses the assessment metrics found in BoardVitals to analyze individual performance. “We can drill down into specific areas, like pharmacology or sleep neurology, to see where residents are struggling,” he said. “This allows us to make recommendations for electives or additional study resources.”
The program also uses group performance data to inform didactic planning. “If we see that residents are underperforming in pediatric neurology, for example, we can adjust our curriculum to address those gaps,” Dr. Mohney explained. “We want to ensure that our didactics are aligned with the areas where residents need the most support.”
WVU has only been using BoardVitals for a year. However, Dr. Mohney reports that the results are already clear. “We’ve seen a positive correlation between the number of questions completed and improved performance on standardized exams,” he said. “Residents who engage more with the question bank tend to perform better.”
Dr. Moni remains committed to providing supportive and constructive feedback to residents. “We want to avoid punitive measures and focus on helping residents succeed,” he emphasized. “Our goal is to improve board pass rates and ensure our residents are well-prepared for their careers.”
As time goes on, technology and data-driven strategies will continue to transform medical education and shape the future of training programs. The insights shared by Dr. Woodworth and Dr. Mohney prove how important it is to leverage modern solutions to enhance learning outcomes and better prepare the next generation of medical professionals.
Access the “Improving Learning Outcomes with Modern Medical Education Solutions” Webinar Recording