september 18, 2002

News

 

Real Students Treat CyberPatients

Kathleen Deering
The Ubyssey

 

 

 

(CUP)—Medical students at the
University of British Columbia will
learn about how to be doctors online
this fall with the introduction of new
technology resembling a video game.
Called CyberPatient, the program
simulates what it’s like to diagnose
and treat a real patient and is func-
tional on any computer or laptop.
The web-based resource was devel-
oped over the last few years by sur-
gery professor Dr. Karim Qayumi
and his son Tarique as a learning aid
for second-year medical students.

He wants to revolutionize the way
medicine is taught.

“People learn more theory in
school and then...they cannot imple-

ment their theoretical knowledge in
practical medicine,” he said.

Med students work with anatomi-
cally correct virtual patients that are
designed with an enjoyable and
impressive level of detail. The pro-
gram is the first of its kind in North
America.

“We are the first ones to make
something this comprehensive—
there are some other programs with
more writing, reading,” he said, “but
nobody has brought the precision we
have in quality and the depth of the
knowledge embedded in this tech-
nology.”

Initially tested in Japan, the pro-
gram was incorporated by the uni-
versity’s medical school curriculum
this September. Fourteen other
schools will soon be making use to
the technology as well. The goal,
Qayumi said, is for any student at
university to be able to access the
program, not only med students.

Future doctors using the program
can select a patient to treat and they
ask questions of and examine the
patients who are afflicted with vari-
ous ailments. These simulated
patients are modelled with great
detail after real people. “It’s as realis-

tic as it can be in a PC-based envi-
ronment,” said Qayumi.

If treatment is needed, a steady
hand on the mouse will perform vir-
tual surgery to relieve patients of
tumours, cysts and kidney stones.
When the student finishes treating
the patient, he or she must take a
diagnosis to the virtual head sur-
geon—tired, cranky and unshaven—
for tense approval. The student is
then scored on his or her perform-
ance as doctor in the program.

“Every examination a doctor can
do is in there,” Qayumi said. “It con-
denses the life expectancy of a doctor
and gives it to a student in one
hour.”

The program will be successful in
helping students learn as they utilize
practical knowledge time and again.
“The message is here that the stu-
dents will learn the practical knowl-
edge many times like a video game,”
said Qayumi. “You go through all
these steps and make mistakes, the
next time you come by you won't do
it again—so you are improving as
you go along.”

Along with a group of researchers,
Qayumi is starting to build hybrid
technology that will take virtual

learning to the next level. “Right
now we can deliver the knowledge—
but it doesn’t have the forced feed-
back,” Qayumi said.

Combining computer science
research from SFU and BCIT,
Qayumi’s team intends to build
something for hands-on use. “That’s
the most important part for sur-
geons—if you want to find a breast
tumour you have to feel [that it’s
there].”

He is in the process of negotiations
for a grant for the project in the
amount of tens of millions of dollars
from the Canadian Fund for
Innovation. If this funding is
approved, creation of a physical
CyberPatient can begin in earnest.

Right now, the CyberPatient pro-
gram is continually being improved,
and more diseases for students to
diagnose are being added. “Now
we're calling it “Interactive Medical
Curriculum—it’s not just the patient
anymore. We have cyber lectures,
educational material, and evalua-
tions,” he said.

While the website is not yet up,
people will eventually be able to find
more information on the Internet at
www.cyberpatient.com.

DSU Honours the Uictims
Terrorism

Eileen Velthuis
News Editor

On Wednesday, September 11, the Douglas Students’
Union held a candle-lighting memorial to honour the
victims of terrorism.

The memorial was held from 12 to 1 p.m. in the
main concourse at DC’s New Westminster campus.
Flyers were passed out by the DSU beforehand to
advertise the event. DC students participated by sit-
ting on the steps around the concourse and listening,
or stopping by for a brief moment on their way to
class.

After welcoming those who attended, Chris Jacob,
the DSU’s College Relations Coordinator, made sure
everyone knew that it wasn’t just about 9/11.

The DSU didn’t want to honour only the victims
of last year’s September 11 attacks, but also those who
have died unnecessarily over the years at the hands of
any kind of terrorism.

“We're also talking about victims of state terror-
ism,” he said.

Garth Mullins, a local activist invited by the DSU
to speak at the event, echoed Jacobs’ statement.

“We're not saying that we're any less sad about the
deaths at the World Trade Center but we want to put
the whole thing in perspective ... and represent all
those who died needlessly,” he explained.

Another speaker who attended, Usman Majeed,
spoke about human rights and how terrorism has
affected so many different countries.

“If we were to light one candle for the World Trade
Center, then Colombia gets at least ten candles,
because tens of thousands of people have died there
as a result of terrorism,” he explained. “Light a candle
for Colombia.”

An explanation of the events was given with the
lighting of each candle. And in the end, 43 candles
were lit during the midday vigil for terrorism-related
events in different countries, ranging from Chile and
Argentina, to Cuba and East Timor, Yemen and
Afghanistan.

“In honour of those who died last September 11,”
said Mullins, “let's have no more dead civilians and
no more terrorism.”

 

 

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