An Automated System to Distribute Students to Clerkships.

Participating in clerkships with general practitioners (GPs) is integral to studying medicine. The students gain deep and valuable insights into the everyday working practice of GPs. The central challenge is organizing these clerkships to distribute the students to the participating doctors' offices. This process becomes even more complex and time-consuming if students can state their preferences. To support faculty staff and involve students in the process, we developed an application to support the distribution process via an automated system and applied it to allocate over 700 students over the course of 2.5 years.

It's All in the Mix: A New Interprofessional, Blended-Learning Masters' Program for Biomedical Data Science Addressing Physicians and Students from Life Sciences - Didactic Concept and First Experiences.

Progress in methods for biomedical research, such as multi-omics analyses and in data-driven healthcare, such as new procedures in diagnostic imaging lead, along with the rising availability of additional data sources, to a growing demand for experts in biomedical data analysis. Addressing this need in academic education and the challenge of interdisciplinary teamwork in the biomedical domain, the authors have designed and implemented a new Master's program for biomedical data science that accepts students with different educational backgrounds, medical doctors, veterinarians and students with a Bachelor's degree in life sciences, and incorporates blended learning. This paper aims to present the didactic concept of the program, report on feedback from the students and first evaluation results, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of this approach. Our results show that the program is well-accepted by the students, who stress the benefits of working in interprofessional teams, the option for part-time study along with their jobs with flexible learning opportunities, and of good and intensive interaction offers with their peers and teachers. Readjustments are necessary to improve tutoring support and alignment of content among distinct modules and to decrease workload peaks. While our evaluation results are still preliminary, we are convinced that our approach of mostly online offers, yet with a strong focus on teamwork, practical exercises guided by experts and communication skills, may serve to educate students to be well-prepared for their future tasks and operations in biomedical data science, in research, clinical care and industry.

The Podcast "Digitization of Medicine" as a Form of Science Communication.

The aim of the podcast Digitization of Medicine is to interest a broader audience and, in particular, young women, in research and work in the field of medical informatics. This article presents the usage figures and discusses their significance for further research on the success of science communication. By 24/02/2022, a total of 24,351 downloads had been made. There were slightly more female than male listeners, and they tended to be younger. Despite the importance podcast are gaining for science communication, little is known about the respective user group and further research is needed. In this context, this paper aims to help make the effectiveness of podcasts comparable.

Data Literacy in Medical Education - An Expedition into the World of Medical Data.

With the advancing digitization in medicine, digital medical data is playing an increasingly important role in health care and research, which is why data literacy must already be taught in medical education. To this end, a 28-hour online elective for medical students - following a constructivist approach - has been implemented. It teaches learners different aspects of data literacy for a critical collection and use of sensitive medical data. The assessment of the learners' reflections on the course topics shows, on the one hand, the importance of data literacy from learners' perspective and, on the other hand, the importance of taking an overarching and coherent view of medical data. In further curricular courses, such as medical ethics, and statistics, special themes are to be deepened in an application-oriented manner.

[What support does a mobile, assistive app provide for informal caregivers? A qualitative analysis of the MoCaB app user experience]. / Unterstützung pflegender Angehöriger durch eine mobile, assistive App. Eine qualitative Analyse der Perspektive von Nutzerinnen und Nutzern der App MoCaB.

BACKGROUND: In the joint project "Mobile Care Backup" funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the smartphone-based app "MoCaB" was developed in close cooperation with informal caregivers. It provides individualized, algorithm-based information and can accompany and support caring relatives in everyday life. After a multi-step development, informal caregivers tested the MoCaB app in a home setting at the end of the research project. The goal was to find out how the test persons evaluate MoCaB and in which form the app can provide support to informal caregivers. METHODS: Eighteen test persons caring for relatives participated in a four-week test of MoCaB. Guideline-based qualitative interviews to record usage behavior and experiences with the app were conducted after two and four weeks of testing, transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The test persons described the care-related information as helpful. The individualized, algorithm-based mode of information delivery and the exercises provided for family caregivers were generally rated as helpful, but their use depends on the individual usage style. Three dimensions can describe the effects of MoCaB: 1) expansion of care-relevant knowledge, 2) stimulation of self-reflection, and 3) behavior towards the care recipients. DISCUSSION: With few exceptions, the testing caregivers felt that the MoCaB app was enriching. The support dimensions have an effect at different points in everyday life and vary in intensity, depending on the duration of the existing care activity and the individual preferences of the users. CONCLUSION: The way in which caregivers used the app was not always consistent with the expected behaviors. This demonstrates the relevance of open-ended, qualitative research methods in the evaluation of health apps.

Defining Learning Outcomes as a Prerequisite of Implementing a Longitudinal and Transdisciplinary Curriculum with Regard to Digital Competencies at Hannover Medical School.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide educational programs face the challenge how to define and integrate digital competencies in medical education. This article describes the implementation of learning outcomes with respect to digital competencies in the compulsory curriculum at Hannover Medical School (MHH). METHODS: An interdisciplinary MHH project group was constituted consisting of physicians and experts in medical informatics and in curriculum development. Over the course of 7 work sessions the group compared different international and national frameworks dealing with digital competencies for physicians. By a consensus driven approach the working group drew up a collection of learning outcomes which were regarded relevant to be incorporated in the curriculum at MHH. RESULTS: The analysis of different frameworks indicated that data literacy is a central domain within all viewed preexisting catalogs. During the course of the project group analysis, 57 learning outcomes with respect to digital competencies were identified as necessary to be integrated in the compulsory curriculum. They were divided in 5 main categories: "handling of medical data," "the digital infrastructure of the health system," "scope of application: usage in patient care and in the field of preventive medicine," "medico-legal and ethical basics," and "transformation processes in medicine due to digitalization." CONCLUSIONS: The MHH project group concluded that medical students should be taught digital competencies that enable an understanding of underlying functional principles of digital systems rather than their correct utilization. The presented project indicates that a close interdisciplinary collaboration of physicians and medical informaticians can be a promising approach to incorporate digital competencies in the undergraduate medical curriculum.

Interdisciplinary Teaching of Digital Competencies for Undergraduate Medical Students - Experiences of a Teaching Project by Medical Informatics and Medicine.

The increasing digitalization of medicine stressed the importance of teaching digital competencies in undergraduate medical education. However, in many medical curricula in Germany, medical informatics is underrepresented. Due the upcoming reorganization of medical undergraduate education in Germany, topics previously assigned to medical informatics represent curricular challenges for all medical disciplines. Against this background, experiences from the project DigiWissMed show how medical informatics can support the teaching of digital competencies in all disciplines of medical education. Therefore, interdisciplinary teaching teams of medical informatics professionals and physicians were formed. In different academic years, this teaching teams jointly designed and implemented new seminars to convey digital competencies. The seminars covers topics such as technology acceptance, telemedicine and assistive health care related to the medical specialty. So, in the project DigiWissMed, the practicability and usefulness of interdisciplinary teaching teams to convey digital competencies could be demonstrate. In the digitalization process of medicine, medical informatics plays a key role. For future-proof medical education, experts of this field should be involved in teaching digital competencies, too.

Does an Audiovisual Dissection Manual Improve Medical Students' Learning in the Gross Anatomy Dissection Course?

The gross anatomy dissection course is considered to be one of the most important subjects in medical school. Advancing technology facilitates the production of e-learning material that can improve the learning of topographic anatomy during the course. The purpose of this study was to examine a locally produced audiovisual dissection manual's effects on performance in dissection, formal knowledge gained, motivation, emotions, learning behavior, and learning efficiency of the medical students. The results, combined with the total effort put into the production of the manual, should support decisions on further implementation of this kind of audiovisual e-learning resource into the university's curriculum. First-year medical students (n = 279) were randomly divided into three groups for two weeks within the regular dissection course hours during the dissection of the anterior and posterior triangles of the neck. Two groups received an audiovisual dissection manual (n = 96) or an improved written manual (n = 94) as an intervention, the control group (n = 89) received the standard dissection manual. After dissection, each student filled out tests and surveys and their dissections were evaluated. The audiovisual dissection manual did not have any significant positive effects on the examined parameters. The effects of the audiovisual dissection manual on the medical students' learning experience, as observed in this study, did not support further curriculum implementation of this kind of e-learning resource. This study can serve as an orientation for further evaluation and design of e-learning resources for the gross anatomy dissection course.

Rapid development of a digital module during the Covid 19 pandemic in undergraduate medical education of pediatrics by teachers and students.

Objective: During the early Covid 19 pandemic, undergraduate medical teaching of pediatric medicine had to be switched to online teaching at the Hanover Medical School (MHH). The aim was to develop an online module together with students. Methodology: In a multi-stage process, a working group consisting of lecturers and students developed the concept and implemented it. Afterwards the online module was evaluated. Results: The conceptualization process and the implementation of the module together with students can be represented as a modified PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act). We showed that including students in the development of an online module is helpful in times of limited resources e.g. such as personnel and time. Conclusion: The cooperation between students and lecturers is suitable for developing and implementing an online module in a short time. In the future, in addition to joint conceptualization phases, digital elements (e.g. preparatory webinars) for the module itself in attendance phases should be retained.

Teamwork, communication and exchange despite Covid-19 - experiences from a digital elective in human medicine studies as part of the HiGHmed project.

Introduction: In order to promote training and further education on topics related to the digitization of medicine, the HiGHmeducation consortium is developing online learning modules. These modules could also be offered across locations. For students of human medicine, an elective for the acquisition of data literacy has been implemented. Originally designed as a blended learning offer, the elective was then carried out completely online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the lack of classroom teaching, the aim was to achieve intensive cooperation between the students. Project description: In the elective, the students worked on a total of 14 learning tasks, so-called e-tivities, which stimulate collaborative work and thus promote the examination of the learning content. These asynchronous learning activities were supplemented by video conferences, in which the students also took on the role of presenters. The teachers accompanied this learning process as e-moderators. Results: In April/May 2020, the elective course was carried out with 12 students entirely online. Despite a workload that was experienced as high, the elective was rated very well by the students. Discussion: The didactic concept of the elective enabled an active engagement with the learning material and the social interaction between the learners. With the digital learning offers, the learners were able to gain new experiences which are also of professional relevance. Conclusion: The didactic concept of the elective can be transferred to other courses. Future studies must show which long-term learning effects can be generated by digital teaching based on teamwork, communication and exchange.

The HiGHmed Didactical Framework for Online Learning Modules on Medical Informatics: First Experiences.

Within the HiGHmeducation consortium various online learning modules shall be developed by members of the consortium to address the increasing need for skilled professionals in a networked and digitalized healthcare system. Transferability of these modules to other locations is one main objective for the design of online learning modules. Thus, a didactical framework for online learning modules was developed. To ensure feasibility of the framework, the participating universities were analyzed concerning availability of e-learning support structures and infrastructures including learning management systems (LMS). The analysis especially focuses on the various LMS learning tools and their suitability for the framework. The framework is the basis for 12 HiGHmeducation online learning modules of which a part has firstly been conducted in winter 2019/20 and leads to a comparable structure of the modules.

Development and evaluation of point-of-care testing recertification with e-learning.

One of the main requirements in point-of-care testing (POCT) is efficient operator training to avoid diagnostic errors. Considering a variety of users and time-independent learning, e-learning is preferred. However, in our experience, e-learning is not always accepted by employees. After using a commercial e-learning program with little success, we developed a specific e-learning offer to achieve a better acceptance of online-based training. Herein our goal was to identify the most relevant aspects for better acceptance. The new e-learning modules were implemented with the learning management system ILIAS and dealt with typical sources of error. The implementation was accompanied by an anonymous online questionnaire within the POCT operators examining differences between the acceptance of the commercial e-learning and the hospital-specific. The results show higher acceptance for clinic-specific e-learning whereby online training of the POCT operators could successfully established. Most relevant aspects are the relevance of contents for the personal work and the working processes within the clinic as well as processing time. Thereby, the recertification of the POCT operators based on the successful completion of the learning modules was fully integrated in the POCT process. In respect to the need for regular recertification of POCT operators, our study shows that the acceptance of e-learning could be improved by adapting e-learning modules to the specific workflows in the hospital.

Evaluating the Validity of a Knowledge-Based System for Proactive Knowledge Transfer for Caregiving Relatives.

The evaluation of the validity of a knowledge-based system is of great importance during its development. It determines whether the system represents the experts' knowledge correctly. This is highly important, but also particularly difficult, if the expert knowledge is not explicit, but only implicit and tacit. In the following the validity's evaluation of a system for education of caregiving relatives is presented. To evaluate the system's knowledge delivery strategy against the experts' opinion, several fictious characters were created. The evaluation revealed inconsistencies in the knowledge base. After resolving these, the experts' opinion is represented to a large extent by the system. Nevertheless, the used evaluation approach is not capable of detecting all inconsistencies. Therefore, a strong need of a system's learning capacity to integrate feedback from a larger group of real caregiving relatives exists. In addition, a rule-based component, representing disease specific knowledge, should be implemented.

[Providing knowledge and support for caring relatives with the smartphone - the MoCaB project]. / Über das Smartphone Wissen und Unterstützung für pflegende Angehörige bereitstellen.

Providing knowledge and support for caring relatives with the smartphone - the MoCaB project Abstract. Background: Caring relatives often have a lack of knowledge of illness and care options. Surveys, as part of the MoCaB (Mobile Care Backup) project, showed that this is often experienced as a burden. Aim: The aim is to support caring relatives by increasing their knowledge. Therefore care-relevant knowledge and instructions for self-care should be provided according to their needs. Methods: The core element of the mobile application, personalized knowledge transfer in dialogue form, will be developed in a participative process with potential users. The relevant evidence-based nursing knowledge was reviewed by experts and written down for the target group. Results: So far, 86 relevant topics have been identified and formulated. First usability tests showed that the content itself, the used expressions and the presentation via the MoCaB app are well received. Outlook: In a next step, the app will be tested in the home setting with caring relatives and, in order to identify any further need and areas for improvement.

Perceived usability of the National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education by medical educators at the Hannover Medical School.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess usability and identify possible challenges in the implementation of the National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) among medical educators. Methods: A comprehensive survey among experienced medical educators (responsible for the teaching content and didactical development in their module/field) based on the System Usability Scale (SUS) was carried out focusing on the awareness, usability and challenges of the NKLM. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 52 of the 64 addressed educators. Most of the participants had 6-10 years of teaching experience. 30% of the educators were not familiar with the NKLM. During the evaluation of the NKLM, usability was rather poorly rated. However, 71.9% of medical educators agreed that the various aspects of the medical professions were well integrated in the NKLM with only 12,5% stating that they would not use the NKLM for teaching and lesson preparation. Conclusion: The awareness and promotion of the NKLM need to be improved. Furthermore, these data suggest that - although difficult to use - there is a solid acceptance of the content of the NKLM. Medical educators seem to be willing to use the NKLM. Therefore, further attempts to support colleagues with the handling of the NKLM seem to be inevitable to pave the way for a competency-based curricular change.

Personalized Knowledge Transfer for Caregiving Relatives.

Caregiving relatives have to manage very diverse tasks and need a lot of care-relevant knowledge. For most of them it is not easy to find the knowledge required. Thus, a personalized knowledge transfer for caregiving relatives is necessary. Against this background, methods to determine the personal relevance and importance of knowledge resources for caregiving relatives are developed. To evaluate these methods, an exemplary fictitious person is created by experts in Nursing Science. In this evaluation, the approach's results are compared with an expert opinion. The approach indicates that a personalized knowledge transfer is possible, providing caregiving relatives with necessary care knowledge according to their personal life situation.

The Implementation of Medical Informatics in the National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM).

INTRODUCTION: The National Competence Based Catalogue of Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) describes medical skills and attitudes without being ordered by subjects or organs. Thus, the NKLM enables systematic curriculum mapping and supports curricular transparency. In this paper we describe where learning objectives related to Medical Informatics (MI) in Hannover coincide with other subjects and where they are taught exclusively in MI. METHODS: An instance of the web-based MERLIN-database was used for the mapping process. RESULTS: In total 52 learning objectives overlapping with 38 other subjects could be allocated to MI. No overlap exists for six learning objectives describing explicitly topics of information technology or data management for scientific research. Most of the overlap was found for learning objectives relating to documentation and aspects of data privacy. DISCUSSION: The identification of numerous shared learning objectives with other subjects does not mean that other subjects teach the same content as MI. Identifying common learning objectives rather opens up the possibility for teaching cooperations which could lead to an important exchange and hopefully an improvement in medical education. CONCLUSION: Mapping of a whole medical curriculum offers the opportunity to identify common ground between MI and other medical subjects. Furthermore, in regard to MI, the interaction with other medical subjects can strengthen its role in medical education.

Knowledge Transfer in Health Care Through Digitally Collecting Learning Experiences - Results of Witra Care.

INTRODUCTION: The goal of the project Witra Care was to investigate how far the use of mobile technology is suitable to collect experience-based knowledge of nurses. METHODS: Nine new employees and seven experienced nurses received for six weeks a mobile phone or a tablet pc with a mobile application that allowed them to collect learning object as pictures, videos, audio files or notes. RESULTS: In Witra Care the nurses created 303 learning objects. They have found the collecting of learning experiences was helpful for their learning processes. The learning objects demonstrate various aspects of daily routines in nursing. DISCUSSION: The results of Witra Care show that the documentation of learning experiences with mobile devices helps to gather information about the practical knowledge in the daily work of nurses, identifies individual learning needs of the employees and supports them in their personal learning processes.

Smart Glasses in Nursing Training - Redundant Gadget or Precious Tool? A Pilot Study.

INTRODUCTION: Heavy workloads in nursing care and high employee turnover call for efficient methods to support on-the-job training. Within the Witra Care project - aiming to develop mobile technologies to support knowledge transfer between experienced and inexperienced nurses - the objective was to investigate the feasibility and perceived usefulness of advanced smart glasses for an exemplary, specific activity in nursing training - preparation of a surgical instrument table in an operating room. METHODS: Four trainee nurses performed different tasks using speech-command operated smart glasses within an operating room setting and were asked for their expectations towards this technology, their experiences and perceptions. RESULTS: All tasks could be achieved by the trainee nurses, and the overall perception was that the technology is supportive and helpful. DISCUSSION: Our results indicate interest in new wearable technologies for supporting training in nursing care. Limitations include small sample size, selection bias and several technical issues such as speech recognition accuracy or short battery lifetime. More research is necessary to evaluate the usefulness and usability of advanced wearable devices for supporting knowledge transfer and training in nursing care.

Use and Acceptance of Mobile Technology by Hospital Nurses in Germany.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to measure and describe user behavior, information and communication technology (ICT) competence and technology acceptance of hospital nurses. METHODS: 36 nurses received for six weeks a mobile phone or a tablet pc with mobile application and answered one questionnaire before and after the six weeks. RESULTS: The participating nurses show a high technology acceptance and private daily use of technologies. Younger participants judge their ICT competency higher than older nurses. The perceived ease of use is significantly higher in younger participants. The perceived usefulness was evaluated heterogeneously. DISCUSSION: Despite the barriers mobile technology is perceived as useful for nurses in their daily work. Factors influencing personal, institutional and device acceptance were determined in this study and can be helpful to facilitate the process of implementation of mobile technology.