Western University College of Podiatric Medicine Converting to Digital Delivery of the Curriculum

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When Western University of Health Sciences College of Podiatric Medicine was created in 2009, the designers made sure that it included the latest technologies.

Since then, University leaders have continued to update the system as new technologies were created. On Thursday, March 12th that adaptability became crucial, as operations went off campus in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This dedication to become a college of and for the future made it easier to pivot the educational experience into one that could be delivered virtually, starting with year one and continuing through year four.

“The Elentra Learning Management System (LMS) allows a one-stop shop for students to access their course materials, grades, and important notifications with a single log-in,” said Dr Jacqueline Truong, Assistant Dean of Preclinical Curriculum and Faculty Affairs. “With one click on their curriculum calendar, they can access streamed lectures, review course recordings on MediaSite, participate on discussion boards and use other interactive features. And with their iPads, they can seamlessly download their course lectures to take notes and send messages to course instructors.”

As part of this modernization of the curriculum, first and second year students were given iPads, or “Digital Doctors’ Bags,” at the start of the 2019-2020 academic year. As they progress through the curriculum, the students will be able to even access  clinical tools through the iPad, like the Butterfly ultrasound tool.

WesternU CPM has been using ExamSoft for the past three years, which allows students to take exams via computers. More importantly, it allows faculty to tag questions as to subject matter so a student’s performance can be carefully tracked for strengths and areas for improvement.

Now, thanks to the addition of an artificial intelligence (AI) proctoring software compatible with ExamSoft, students will be able to take a secured exam in a remote location. “This feature allows us to validate the experience,” said Dean V Kathleen Satterfield.

WesternU CPM, like all medical schools, has depended on hands-on rotations but it has also traditionally brought third-year students, who are rotating throughout Southern California, together on Wednesdays for didactic educational events via Zoom. The College also makes case conferences and journal club available to its widespread community of students and faculty through the digital platform. This familiarity with technology has made the transition easier to all-virtual third and fourth-year experiences.

“We were able to adapt to an all-virtual curriculum largely due to the dedicated faculty who offered more of their time to continue putting our students first,” said Dr Jonathan Labovitz, Associate Dean of Clinical Education and Graduate Placement. “Since the technology was already in place as part of our standard curriculum, we were able to expand our virtual didactic sessions, radiology grand rounds, and journal club.” The College also added student presentations that will be given and presented in formats like continuing education events for podiatric physicians, so students continue receiving some real-world experiences.

Students have responded favorably to the curriculum being delivered online. “Curriculum changes took place immediately with alternatives to provide students with home-based assignments to help us fulfill the credits required for us to be able to graduate without any delays,” said fourth-year student Karanjot Kaur.

The students in Clinical Medicine and Reasoning courses, essentially physical diagnosis, continue to interact with the standardized patients through Zoom experiences. Zoom has been a critical partner. The Class of 2020 even enjoyed a virtual Match Day celebration attended by students, their families, faculty, and staff via Zoom.

Perhaps the most exciting development is finalizing the acquisition of a virtual medical simulator to allow us to continue teaching clinical skills and decision making with outcomes assessment to evaluate student progress.

WesternU has partnered with Kaplan’s iHuman program to offer medicine and general surgery experiences for the current third year students but for podiatric encounters, we are looking forward to being back in the clinics, said Dr Satterfield.

She continued, “Some of the greatest growths in innovation have occurred under the pressure of war and crises. I think that some of the solutions that we are seeing now will become incorporated into how we do things even after we return to ‘normal.’”

“Education has been changed forever.”

V Kathleen Satterfield, DPM, FACFAOM
Dean and Professor, WesternU College of Podiatric Medicine
Pomona, California