Case-based and Interactive Instruction in a Curriculum for Individualizing Patient Care

Weiner SJ, Schwartz AJ, Harris I, Binns-Calvey A. Case-based and Interactive Instruction in a Curriculum for Individualizing Patient Care. Poster session presented at: Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Meeting; 2010 Nov 7; Washington, DC.

Practice guidelines present algorithms that do not take into account the patient's context, such as access to care, economic resources, and cognitive abilities. The recommendation, for instance, that a patient with persistent wheezing on asthma medication should increase medication assumes the problem is an inadequate medication dosage rather than not taking the prescribed medication because of financial re-sources or not following medication directions. We have documented a high rate of "contextual error" due to inattention to such contextual factors. This poster introduces a case-based and interactive curriculum demonstrated to provide physicians with strategies for contextualizing -- or individualizing -- care.