We did it! – iCoViP

The Polish team was the first of all iCoViP teams finishing all VP translations by the end of February. It would not have been possible without the great job and involvement of the student team that we had on board. Who are we and what motivates us to work in iCoViP? Today we want to introduce our Polish translation team to you.

There is no good workflow without a good manager and team leader who oversees everything and leads the team. Thanks to Ewa Radulescu, our manager and facilitator, who was responsible for dividing the translation and gathering all the data. Without you, Ewa, we would not have succeeded!

Our fantastic student team consists of Asia, Natalia, Ania, Zuza, Łucja and Karolina. This is what they wrote about themselves:

”My name is Natalia and I am a 6th year medical student. The project gave me the opportunity to learn about interesting medical cases, meet very helpful people and even go on trips to get to know all the participants better. In brief, a nice atmosphere, modern approach to medical education and a great project!”

“My name is Łucja, I am a 6th-year medical student at MC JU. In the course of the iCoVIP Project, I was mostly responsible for the translation of medical cases from English into Polish and from Polish into English, for cooperating in the creation of virtual patients’ medical cases, for research concerning EBM-based medical practice, and for the data collection and technical development of the results of the pilot study. I really enjoyed working on the Project, because it was led by the most open-minded and engaging individuals and together we made quite a relentless team. Moreover, I gained so many new skills both concerning the medical field and effective communication with colleagues. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to co-create the iCoViP Project.“

“My name is Ania and I’m sixth-year medical student. I started my journey with iCoViP in 2021 and [I’ve been] a case translator since then. It helped me develop my ability to work through cases I face everyday in hospitals. During the Project I had a chance to meet wonderful, cheerful people, gain clinical experience and I hope that I took part in process of improving the medical education process.”

“My name is Zuza and I am a sixth-year medical student. I learned a lot during the project and had the opportunity to work with wonderful people from other countries. iCoViP allowed me to gain valuable experience, which will definitely be useful in my future work as a doctor!“

“My name is Asia and my task in the iCoViP project was to translate medical cases from English into Polish. This enabled me to learn from cases that were still in the development process! In addition, by participating in the project, I was able to work with great people and gain new experiences! It was a pleasure to be part of such a significant international project that has a real impact on modernizing the medical education process!”

“Hi, my name is Karolina and I’m third-year medical student. I gained valuable experience and skills, which will be extremely helpful during my future career as a doctor. It was a pleasure to work with such an amazing team, which I could always rely on in case of any trouble.”

I had the pleasure to work with them, supporting the translations and doubts that came up and share the good team spirit. My name is Małgorzata Sudacka, I am the IO2 coordinator for the Polish team and a pediatric resident with a great enthusiasm for medical education and its development. Thanks to such an experience, I am sure that all the effort and energy I put into the project was worth it!

Phase of the curriculum	4th year of medical school
Goal in the curriculum	The iCoViP collection was implemented to practice selected VPs in the subject of Occupational Medicine (a voluntary subject in the University of Zaragoza in the 4th year of medical school).
Effective use of resources	The collection was used asynchronously so it was not necessary to have a computer infrastructure or a specific room and all students in Spain have laptops or access to the medical school computers. However, issue of updating content not yet solved.
VP alignment	The collection is used while students are doing their clinical placements having a teacher revising the responses and explaining to students most frequent mistakes.
Prioritization/relevance	For Occupational Medicine, the use of the iCoViP collection was a mandatory assignment needed to pass, but did not add points to the final grade.
Relation to other learning activities	None
Time allocation	One week was given to complete the assignment but more time was available for those who wanted to do the activity remote from home.
Group allocation	Students worked alone at home, when the educator discussed the solution of the VP, it was allocated in class (face-to-face or online).
Presence mode	Asynchronous
Technical Integration	It was integrated into Moodle.
VP use orientation/training	VPs were related to a specialty of medicine, but were randomly assigned to students regardless of where in the specialty they were rotating at the time.
Technical infrastructure	We used the technical infrastructure of the iCoViP project without any additions at the University of Zaragoza.
Learning activities around VPs	The teacher explained each VP and how to resolve them after getting the responses of all the students.
Assessment	Students had to complete the VPs, but there was no grade at the end. Only credit (pass/fail).
Quality assurance, maintenance, and sustainability	Frequent revision of the VPs by medical doctors.

Phase of the curriculum	Year 3 and 4 of medical school
Goal in the curriculum	Students learn basic steps of clinical reasoning including identifying relevant findings, developing differential diagnoses, deciding about a final diagnosis, ordering tests to rule out / confirm differentials, and suggesting treatment options.
Effective use of resources	Course tutors needed time to familiarize themselves with the VPs and time had to be planned during the synchronous meetings to discuss the VPs
VP alignment	VPs were part of the modules (e.g. Abdomen, cardiovascular system, pulmonary system, etc.) in year 3 and 4 of medical school and aligned with the objectives of these modules based on key symptoms. In addition a pool of 41 VPs was available for deliberate practice across key symptoms and diagnoses.
Time allocation	5 VPs / module
Group allocation	Students could choose whether to work in groups or individually.
Presence mode	Students could decide when and where to work on the VPs during the period of the module.
Technical Integration	VPs were integrated into the school's learning management system Moodle via a SingleSignOn interface.
VP use orientation/training	No specific familiarization, but general introduction at the beginning of year 3.
Learning activities around VPs	Depending on the modules other learning activities were embedded.
Assessment	The topics of the VPs were part of modules assessment.
Quality assurance, maintenance, and sustainability	We used the built-in feedback functionality to receive qualitative feedback from students and VPs were part of the regular evaluation activities of the medical school.

Phase of the curriculum	Year 1 and 2 of medical school
Goal in the curriculum	Students learn basic steps of clinical reasoning such as identifying & prioritizing findings and composing a summary statement. They also can follow the reasoning process of the VP author concerning differential diagnoses, ordered tests, and treatments.
Effective use of resources	Course tutors needed time to familiarize themselves with the VPs and time had to be planned during the synchronous meetings to discuss the VPs.
VP alignment	VPs were part of the longitudinal clinical course and aligned with the other modules in year 1 and 2 (In case of Augsburg this was Contact, Movement, and equilibrium). We aligned the key symptoms of the VPs with these modules, so that students worked in parallel on these VPs and the corresponding module.
Time allocation	15 VPs over two years / 5 VPs per module.
Group allocation	Students could choose whether to work in groups or individually.
Presence mode	Students could decide when and where to work on the VPs during the period of the module.
Technical Integration	VPs were integrated into the school's learning management system Moodle via a SingleSignOn interface.
VP use orientation/training	At the beginning of year 1 students were introduced into clinical reasoning and how they can train this ability with VPs.
Learning activities around VPs	Depending on the key symptoms during the longitudinal clinical course other learning activities were embedded.
Assessment	The topics of the VPs were part of the clinical longitudinal course assessment.
Quality assurance, maintenance, and sustainability	We used the built-in feedback functionality to receive qualitative feedback from students and VPs were part of the regular evaluation activities of the medical school.

Phase of the curriculum	Basic sciences/pre-clinical years: - At Jagiellonian University Medical College in Kraków we have integrated it in the “Introduction to Clinical Sciences” course in 2nd year of medicine. - At University of Porto in the “Propedeutics/Semiology” course in the 3rd year of medicine.
Goal in the curriculum	- To provide the students with an opportunity to challenge their knowledge at home in between classes with an interactive, clinical-oriented task. - To support learning by linking basic science knowledge with clinical reasoning. Students had the opportunity to practice on undiagnosed cases the skill of differentiating common symptoms, such as dyspnea, abdominal pain, headache.
Effective use of resources	Use of iCoViP VPs in native language of the students. No extra cost needed.
VP alignment	- In Kraków we have selected a few VPs (seven) with common diseases (e.g. pneumonia, pancreatitis, pulmonary embolism) with common symptoms. - In Porto, VPs are chosen according to the common symptoms to promote clinical reasoning.
Prioritization/relevance	- In Kraków the completion of all VPs is mandatory. - In Porto, VPs are introduced on a voluntary basis and are available on demand.
Relation to other learning activities	We used the time students had at home between seminars (Kraków: between on-campus based PBL sessions). VPs were spaced-activated (a new VP appeared biweekly synchronized with changing topics of the PBL seminars that focus on different leading symptoms).
Time allocation	Around 30 minutes biweekly, repeated 7 times in a semester.
Group allocation	Students worked alone at home to reflect but could consult the VPs with their peers or instructors in small groups of the face-to-face PBL seminars.
Presence mode	Students worked on the VPs asynchronously and self-directed at home to have time to reflect and consult textbooks.
Technical Integration	VPs were integrated with a course to which all students were enrolled on the official university learning management system Moodle using Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) interface.
VP use orientation/training	Students were provided with an introductory email with instructions and had additionally the opportunity to technically practice using CASUS in a parallel “Telemedicine” (Medical informatics) course. Instructors received test-codes to practice the VPs at home.
Technical infrastructure	Students used their own computers from home. An email address was provided to a person responsible for technical support.
Learning activities around VPs	Students were asked to complete concept maps for all VPs they solve. Moreover, in Kraków students were provided with links to additional online articles to help them with topics difficult at this stage of education.
Assessment	Students were asked to complete the cases prior to the end of the term. They were not given grades for the activity - just credit. Their answers were randomly inspected to see common mistakes and provide general feedback to all students.
Quality assurance, maintenance, and sustainability	We checked the diagnostic accuracy of individual cases (and detected one case with imprecise diagnosis). Students evaluated the course using the iCoViP case collection evaluation questionnaire.