Simulated Case of Pulmonary Embolism

Abstract

Abstract This resource is a simulator exercise for third-year medical students utilizing a human patient simulator. A case narrative, critical item checklist, instructor notes, lab findings, electrocardiogram, and simulator parameters are provided. In this exercise, the student must interview and examine the simulator patient with a chief complaint of dyspnea and chest pain in a simulated emergency room. The student must order appropriate tests, and the instructor then distributes the results, including lab tests, electrocardiogram, and chest X-ray findings. The student should arrive at a probable diagnosis of pulmonary embolism and begin treatment. Simulation is a valuable learning tool for medical students and allows them to practice clinical skills in a supportive environment. This exercise meets many of the objectives in the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine Core Medicine Clerkship Curriculum Guide's thromboembolism training problem. It also encourages differential diagnosis formation and requires diagnostic decision making, interpretation of diagnostic tests, and therapeutic decision making in a time-sensitive manner. The author has been using this simulator exercise for approximately 3 years. Students uniformly describe the exercise as helpful and request more simulator exercises. In formal anonymous evaluations, students believed this exercise met the objectives, helped prepare them for an actual patient, and improved their order writing.

Keywords

• Physical Examination
• Pulmonary Embolism
• Chest Pain
• Dyspnea
• Mannikins
• METI