Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32249758›Full record

ArticleJMIR medical education2020

A Mobile Medical Knowledge Dissemination Platform (HeadToToe): Mixed Methods Study.

Ido Zamberg, Olivier Windisch, Thomas Agoritsas, Mathieu Nendaz, Georges Savoldelli, Eduardo Schiffer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR medical education, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ido Zamberg *Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4534-4635
Olivier Windisch *Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8963-5445
Thomas AgoritsasDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6182-9969
Mathieu NendazDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3795-3254
Georges SavoldelliFaculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8968-6920
Eduardo SchifferFaculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7415-4315

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFinding readily accessible, high-quality medical references can be a challenging task. HeadToToe is a mobile platform designed to allow easy and quick access to sound, up-to-date, and validated medical knowledge and guidance. It provides easy access to essential clinical medical content in the form of documents, videos, clinical scores, and other formats for the day-to-day access and use by medical students and physicians during their pre- and postgraduate education.

objectiveThe aim of this paper is to describe the architecture, user interface, and potential strengths and limitations of an innovative knowledge dissemination platform developed at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. We also report preliminary results from a user-experience survey and usage statistics over a selected period.

methodsThe dissemination platform consists of a smartphone app. Through an administration interface, content is managed by senior university and hospital staff. The app includes the following sections: (1) main section of medical guidance, organized by clinical field; (2) checklists for history-taking and clinical examination, organized by body systems; (3) laboratory section with frequently used lab values; and (4) favorites section. Each content item is programmed to be available for a given duration as defined by the content's author. Automatic notifications signal the author when the content is about to expire, hence, promoting its timely updating and reducing the risk of using obsolete content. In the background, a third-party statistical collecting tool records anonymous utilization statistics.

resultsWe launched the final version of the platform in March 2019, both at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Geneva and at the University Hospital of Geneva in Switzerland. A total of 622 students at the university and 613 health professionals at the hospital downloaded the app. Two-thirds of users at both institutions had an iOS device. During the practical examination period (ie, May 2019) there was a significant increase in the number of active users (P=.003), user activity (P<.001), and daily usage time (P<.001) among medical students. In addition, there were 1086 clinical skills video views during this period compared to a total of 484 in the preceding months (ie, a 108% increase). On a 10-point Likert scale, students and physicians rated the app with mean scores of 8.2 (SD 1.9) for user experience, 8.1 (SD 2.0) for usefulness, and 8.5 (SD 1.8) for relevance of content. In parallel, postgraduate trainees viewed more than 6000 documents during the first 3 months after the implementation in the Division of Neurology at our institution.

conclusionsHeadToToe is an educator-driven, mobile dissemination platform, which provides rapid and user-friendly access to up-to-date medical content and guidance. The platform was given high ratings for user experience, usefulness, and content quality and was used more often during the exam period. This suggests that the platform could be used as tool for exam preparation.

Indexed as

clinical competenceclinical practice guidelinesclinical skillsinnovationmedical educationmedical guidancemobile phonesmartphone

Identifiers

PMID32249758
PMCPMC7287749

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.