A.Weindl, C. Wagenlehner*, M. Holzer*, H. Lyon**, M. Fischer*, B. Conrad
Department of Neurology Technische Universität, *Instruct AG Ludwig Maximilian Universität München Germany, **Notre Dame College Manchester, NH, U.S.A

Compared to the USA most medical schools in Germany admit considerably higher numbers of students in the preclinical and particularly clinical years. This has led to considerations of innovative changes in the curricula at some medical schools. The Faculty of Medicine of the Technical University Munich is engaged in preparing a new curriculum for a subgroup of students running in parallel to the traditional curriculum. A major aspect of the new curriculum is broadening and intensifying patient-based problem oriented learning (POL).

Based on experiences at Dartmouth Medical School peer-reviewed computer-assisted POL cases have proved to be a successful means to supplement medical teaching (1). In cooperation with Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, USA, several neurological computer-based POL learning cases dealing with Parkinsonism, chorea, opsoclonus, brain tumors including glioblastoma multiforme, seizures in adult and child neurology and other topics have been developed including Slice of Life and Slice of Brain material based on CIMAS, an authoring platform developed by Gonzalez and Lyon (Lyon H et al. Planalyzer, an interactive computer-assisted program to teach clinical problem solving in diagnosing anemia and coronary artery disease. 76712 Academic Medicine 1992, 821-82).

These cases are being transformed into the www-compatible CASUS platform developed by Instruct AG in the framework of CASEPORT, a German inter-university project for developing computer-based POL cases at 13 medical schools. Based on the core of the cases existing in an English and a German version further neurological cases are developed with technical, financial and professional assistance of CASEPORT. The cases are prepared for students (A-level) and with a more extensive content for trainees in neurology (B-level) allowing eventual use for CME crediting. After peer-review by content experts and evaluation by teaching experts the cases are available locally to the students of the TUM Medical School for augmenting the new curriculum as well as to the medical schools cooperating within the CASEPORT project. (Supported by BMBF grant 08 NM 111 K, the Harris Chair Dartmouth-German Distinguished Visiting Professorship Grant and a US Fulbright commission grant to H.L.).

Development of computer-based problem-oriented interactive cases for use in a new curriculum at the School of Medicine of the Technical University of Munich using CASUS, a web-based platform.

Adolf Weindl
Neurologische Klinik der TU München
Mˆhlstr. 28
D-81675 München
Phone: +49-89-41404605
Fax: +49-89-41404867
Email: Adolf.Weindl@neuro.med.tu-muenchen.de
Website: http://www.neuro.med.tu-muenchen.de

CO-AUTHORS:

C. Wagenlehner*, M. Holzer*, M. Fischer*
H. Lyon+
B. Conrad'

*Instruct AG, Medizinische Klinik Innenstadt der LMU, Ziemssenstr. 1,80333 München
+Notre Dame College, Manchester, New Hampshire
'Neurologische Klinik der TU München, Mˆhlstr. 28, 81675 München
Phone: *+49-89-51602289
+49-89-7095-4483
'+49-89-41404600
Fax: *49-89-5160-2366
Email: Martin.Fischer@medinn.med.uni-muenchen.de
Website: http://www.instruct.de/
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
http://www.neuro.med.tu-muenchen.de