Medical students take part in Elsevier clinical challenge to further develop clinical decision-making skills

Medical student finalists of Elsevier’s Clinical Challenge Finale gathered at Tulane University to acquire knowledge, establish connections, and foster collaboration. The 12 finalists were students from across the US who had successfully come through the qualifying stage of the challenge to reach the finale, hosted on the weekend of February 23-25.

Students worked in teams to solve a “clinical escape room”, testing their leadership and clinical reasoning abilities by responding to several simulated patient scenarios. The finalists also practiced communication skills usings Elsevier’s Clinical Cases product in a case-based role-play activity, participated in a product innovation sandbox session, and had the opportunity to trial Elsevier’s new cardiac educational product Complete HeartX, available on Apple Vision Pro.

Practicing clinical-decision making skills is a crucial part of supporting medical students to become practice-ready professionals. Launched in the US in 2023, Elsevier’s Clinical Cases provides students with short virtual clinical cases that reflect real-life patient scenarios, providing interactive and engaging ways to develop and access their clinical reasoning skills in a risk-free environment. In addition, Clinical Cases provides personalized feedback to allow students to tailor their learning, while also enabling educators to track their students’ progress.

Elsevier’s Clinical Challenge was open to all US based medical students. The Challenge began in September 2023, with close to 500 medical students registering for the challenge and 80 semi-finalists selected based on their engagement with the virtual patient cases in the Clinical Cases platform. Semi-finalists were required to submit a video interview on the topic of artificial intelligence in medical education for a chance to become one of the 12 finalists invited to the finale event.

Finalist Madison Thornton, a third year from Tulane University, said: “I had such a wonderful time learning from and growing clinically with such amazing medical students and am excited to use what I have learned this weekend in my future career.”

Promise Ufomadu, a student from Baylor College of Medicine, said: "It was a really memorable event, where I sharpened my clinical reasoning skills and gained a fantastic network of friends and educational resources.”

Elizabeth Munn, Managing Director of Global Medical Education at Elsevier said: “We know how important it is for medical students to enter the profession with full confidence in their clinical decision making. Elsevier developed Clinical Cases to specifically address this – students can practice their decision making in a diverse range of cases and conditions, and in a safe environment. The Elsevier Clinical Challenge has been a great opportunity for medical students to showcase their decision making with Clinical Cases. Thank you to all the students who took part, and many congratulations to the finalists!”

Clinical Cases is currently available in the US, with further launches in additional markets coming later in 2024.

About Clinical Cases

Clinical Cases presents an interactive and engaging way to assess student competency with respect to diagnostic decision-making and patient care. The case-based learning environment provides students with short virtual cases that reflect real-life patient scenarios to practice and develop their clinical reasoning acumen in a risk-free environment. It provides personalized feedback that guides students to be agents of their own learning, while also enabling educators to track their students’ progress.

About Elsevier Health

For more than 140 years, Elsevier has supported the work of researchers and healthcare professionals by providing current, evidence–based information that can help empower students and clinicians to provide the best healthcare possible. Growing from our roots, Elsevier Health applies innovation, facilitates insights, and helps drive more informed decision-making for our customers across global health. We support health providers by providing accessible, trusted evidence-based information to take on the infodemic; prepare more future health professionals with effective tools and resources; provide insights that help clinicians improve patient outcomes; deliver healthcare that is truly inclusive; and supports a more personalized and localized healthcare experience.

Diversity and inclusion are the foundation of our innovation, and our teams are committed to creating education and practice solutions that reflect the diversity of our world. Elsevier Health is helping lay the groundwork for more equitable healthcare worldwide; We bring the same rigor to our digital information solutions as we do to our publishing, allowing us to offer knowledge and valuable analytics that help our users make breakthroughs and drive progress for the benefit of every patient.

About Elsevier

As a global leader in scientific information and analytics, Elsevier helps researchers and healthcare professionals advance science and improve health outcomes for the benefit of society. We do this by facilitating insights and critical decision-making with innovative solutions based on trusted, evidence-based content and advanced AI-enabled digital technologies.

We have supported the work of our research and healthcare communities for more than 140 years. Our 9,500 employees around the world, including 2,500 technologists, are dedicated to supporting researchers, librarians, academic leaders, funders, governments, R&D-intensive companies, doctors, nurses, future healthcare professionals and educators in their critical work. Our 2,900 scientific journals and iconic reference books include the foremost titles in their fields, including Cell Press, The Lancet and Gray’s Anatomy.

Together with the Elsevier Foundation opens in new tab/window, we work in partnership with the communities we serve to advance inclusion and diversity in science, research and healthcare in developing countries and around the world.

Elsevier is part of RELX opens in new tab/window, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information on our work, digital solutions and content, visit www.elsevier.com.