The Importance of Tools Like VisualDx for Medical Students

The amount of information you must acquire as a medical student is truly astounding – and it is something that no amount of pre-med training can truly prepare you for. What perhaps can feel most overwhelming is not only the knowledge, but the application of that knowledge to real-life patients coming to you with real-life problems once you begin the clinical phase of your education.

The Utmost Importance of the Diagnosis

One of the most challenging parts of being a clinician can be arriving at a diagnosis that is not only correct but made in a timely manner. You learn quickly as a medical student that this is a huge issue: diagnoses that are wrong or come too late can come with a significant cost, both in terms of patient health and of economics – and it is no surprise that recent research found that 63% of those surveyed are either “concerned” or  “very concerned” about mistaken diagnoses.

Why is it so important? According, to the authors of Improving Diagnoses in Health Care,2 the diagnosis is part process and part classification scheme, and it is not only vital for patient care but, in the larger picture, also helps to dictate research, allocation of resources, payment/reimbursement, and general health care policy as well.  From the human point of view, of course, its importance to patient care is paramount, and authors note that, “when a diagnosis is accurate and made in a timely manner, a patient has the best opportunity for a positive health outcome because clinical decision-making will be tailored to the correct understanding of the patient’s health problems.”

Because the entire plan of care for a given patient is based on the diagnosis, everything that you do for this patient is based on, quite simply, being able to figure out what is wrong with them in the first place. There is a large body of scientific evidence to show that a correct and early diagnosis can make a huge difference in patient outcomes, not only for more widespread diseases like cancer3 and malaria4 but also for lesser-known conditions like meningococcal diseaseand osteonecrosis of the knee.6

How VisualDx Helps

Technology, of course, cannot take the place of either book knowledge or of the experiential knowledge that you gain through your clinicals as a med student and later on through your residency. But it can help. And one tool which is incredibly useful is the VisualDx app.7 VisualDx is designed to help clinicians – at every stage in their education – expediently and accurately diagnose diseases in order to begin effective patient treatment.

This app gives clinicians instant access to great visuals for each diagnosis as well as concise but thoroughly clinical information which includes particular signs and symptoms to look for, diagnostic and disease management “pearls,” and guidelines for treatment. The app also covers many adverse events caused by medications and provides Sympticons, which illustrate symptoms in adults, children, and infants. This program is available for iOS through the App Store and through Google Play for Android devices.

Being a medical student – and gathering the academic and experiential knowledge that you need to become a good clinician – is an enormous challenge. But apps like VisualDx, while not replacing your own knowledge and instincts as a doctor, can help you to make an accurate diagnosis in the fast-paced, high-pressure world of modern medicine.

About the Author


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Brian Wu, PhD, wrote this as a medical student at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. He is the founder of Health Stories For Kids, a media company that creates educational and entertaining stories to teach patients and their families about health topics. Brian is pursuing a psychiatry residency and is a loving husband and father.

 

 

 

References

  1. McDonald KM, Bryce CL, Graber ML. The patient is in: patient involvement strategies for mitigating diagnostic errors. BMJ Qual Saf. 2013;22:ii33-ii39. http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/22/Suppl_2/ii33.full?sid=17161c6b-1956-4350-b68f-8fb7800068610. Accessed July 30, 2016.
  2. Balogh EP, Miller BT, Ball JR, eds. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2015. http://www.nap.edu/read/21794/chapter/1. Accessed July 30, 2016.
  3. Vedsted P, Olesen F. Early diagnosis of cancer — the role of general practice. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2009;27(4):193-194. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3413909/. Accessed July 30, 2016.
  4. Malaria: diagnostic testing. World Health Organization. 2015. http://www.who.int/malaria/areas/diagnosis/en/. Accessed July 30, 2016.
  5. Dellepiane RM, Dell’Era L, Pavesi P, et al. Invasive meningococcal disease in three siblings with hereditary deficiency of the 8th component of complement: evidence for the importance of an early diagnosis. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2016;11:64. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4869260/. Accessed July 30, 2016.
  6. Jordan RW, Aparajit P, Docker C, Udeshi U, El-Shazly M. The importance of early diagnosis in spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee – A case series with six year follow-up. Knee. 2016;23(4):702-7. http://www.thekneejournal.com/article/S0968-0160(16)30009-6/abstract. Accessed July 30, 2016.
  7. VisualDx. https://www.visualdx.com/. Accessed July 30, 2016.

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