Many people have been complaining that lectures in big halls for hundreds of students isn’t suitable for the 21th century anymore and that education should focus on practical knowledge. Small group hands-on lessons are limited by the number of teachers and the capacity of hospitals/clinics. Why not to use the tools the digital era has given us? We all have a device with as 24/7 and we tend to fiddle with it while bored numerous times a day: our phones. Thus, developed by Hungarians, the application InSimu Patient® was born which grows in popularity since its launch, so much that many big investors have joined the group.
I can recall when I was reading the letter of Prof. Kellermayer in January of 2019: I was enthusiastic and sceptical about the free trial he offered us back then. Nevertheless, I jumped into it right away and I can say that I wasn’t disappointed.
https://pages.insimu.com/university-h2g2if
We have a wide range of subjects to choose from, covering almost every medical speciality. After selecting the given category we get our patient’s complaints and a brief anamnesis: age, sex, whether he/she has pain and if yes where. It’s our turn to be the doctor and examine the patent. From the first moment the app has a clinical point of view: we can take the anamnesis as detailed as we want, we can do any tests; it’s only up to us what we do or don’t. However, everything has a price and takes time so it’s only reasonable that the app makes sure to lets us know the price of what we do at all times. Furthermore, the status of the patient may change in time as well, making it even more realistic. If we think that we are ready to make the diagnosis, then we have to classify it by the ICD-10 system.
And here comes the most important part: evaluation. The app tells us what the right diagnosis was if we didn’t get it correct, but also tells us what we slipped on the way towards making the diagnosis. It is also listed what would have been the best way to examine the patients considering both time and money, teaching future doctors awareness.
As I mentioned before, the popularity of the app is ever-growing so much that this summer the first international In Simu championship was held where several Hungarian and international universities participated. I encourage everyone at this University to give it a try and download it, use it for your and for your future patients’ good!
We hope that Semmelweis University will support such innovative projects in the future too.