Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences: Supporting doctors of tomorrow
By BMJ
Oct 03, 2017
With innovation at its core, the Medical College is always looking for new technologies and resources to support and develop its students.
In 2009, the Medical College took out a subscription for BMJ Best Practice, to provide medical students with access to online decision-support information. Following its implementation, lecturers have been encouraging students to refer to BMJ Best Practice regularly to support their clinical training. Dr Ahmed Awil Adam, General Surgeon and the Year 3 Coordinator at the Faculty of Medicine explains: “I have personally made sure every student on surgical rotation uses BMJ Best Practice to support their development and have encouraged them to get the most out of it.”
A one-stop shop
Aneesah Zahari, a third year medical student, explains how she is benefiting from BMJ Best Practice: “I refer to BMJ Best Practice daily, because it helps me to find in-depth information on my patients’ conditions. It is very convenient to use and I have found the speed and ease with which I can find information very beneficial. As a medical student the range of content within BMJ Best Practice is really useful. Rather than having to search page-by-page through my text books, now I can search for the resources I need. The results are presented to me online in a very systematic arrangement which also helps when trying to work out which resources are going to be the most useful.”
“Compared to other decision-support tools I use, I find the authority of the information in BMJ Best Practice to be far superior. As a result, when I use BMJ Best Practice, I feel much more confident in my decision making – in particular when it comes to diagnosing a disease and assessing which investigations to undertake.”
Aneesah Zahari, third year medical student
Building confidence is key
The students are using BMJ Best Practice in a number of ways; as a reference resource, to support revision and as a decision support tool. In particular the students are finding the resource invaluable when it comes to diagnosis, and in particular the differential diagnosis of a condition.
Aneesah goes on to add: “Compared to other decision-support tools I use, I find the authority of the information in BMJ Best Practice to be far superior. As a result, when I use BMJ Best Practice, I feel much more confident in my decision making – in particular when it comes to diagnosing a disease and assessing which investigations to undertake.”
Noor Elyana Ahmad Fawzi, shares her experience: “When it comes to assessing patients with certain symptoms, I find that BMJ Best Practice provides me with reassurance. If I am unsure of the diagnosis then I can refer to BMJ Best Practice to understand more about the symptoms presented to me. It allows me to explore the differential diagnosis and advises on the physical examination and test options.”
“When it comes to assessing patients with certain symptoms, I find that BMJ Best Practice provides me with reassurance. If I am unsure of the diagnosis then I can refer to BMJ Best Practice to understand more about the symptoms presented to me. It allows me to explore the differential diagnosis and advises on the physical examination and test options.”
Noor Elyana Ahmad Fawzi
Focus on patient outcomes
Like many of the students Noor Elyana has found BMJ Best Practice intuitive and easy to use; she continues: “I have found it very easy to find the answers I am looking for in BMJ Best Practice. I simply type in the symptoms and I am presented with the answer. As a third year student it allows me to make confident decisions with regards to which tests to order or which investigations to do first. It has made me think about which questions to ask and which tests I should undertake. I think this will help to reduce wasted time during the patient consultation as it reduces my clerking time.
Appealing to the way students learn
As the Coordinator at the Faculty of Medicine, Dr Ahmed Awil Adam understands the methods of learning that appeal most to his students: “One thing has always been clear to me, and that is the amount of time my students spend online. The simplicity of BMJ Best Practicecombined with the constantly updated, evidence-based information makes it a dynamic and interactive resource, which is a great attraction to my students. We, lecturers and students, have all benefited from BMJ Best Practice significantly.”
