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Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science First in Illinois to Equip Students With Computerized Diagnosis System

Posted on: Thursday, 11 December 2008, 08:30 CST

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS) is the first medical school in Illinois and one of the first in the nation to provide its students with an advanced computer system that helps diagnose patients and recommend treatments. The new system enables medical educators to present students with individual cases and then check their diagnoses against the computer system, which has a proven accuracy rate of over 90 percent.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061003/LATU006LOGO)

The new computer system, from Isabel Healthcare Inc. of Falls Church, VA, is used by physicians at 18 medical centers around the country to improve diagnoses and reduce medical error.

According to John Tomkowiak, M.D., M.O.L, Associate Dean for Curriculum and Director of Interprofessional Clinical Education and Simulation at RFUMS, one of the hardest skills to teach medical students is the ability to reason in a clinically oriented context -- it is this skill that differentiates the average clinician from the excellent one. "Educators have consistently looked for approaches to not only teach this essential skill, but to assess it. With the new Isabel system, we can do both," he said.

At RFUMS, Isabel is a mandatory component of training for the University's Chicago Medical School students and the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine students.

The Isabel system includes information on more than 10,000 diseases and 4,500 drugs and is frequently updated.

"Isabel searches through medical texts and journals and provides the clinician -- the expert -- with diagnoses to consider. It actually reminds the doctors of other diagnoses that he may not have remembered or recognized," said Joseph Britto, M.D., President, Isabel Healthcare Inc.

Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science is a national leader in interprofessional medical and healthcare education, comprising the Chicago Medical School, College of Health Professions, Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine and School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. There are more than 16,000 RFUMS degreed graduates in the United States and worldwide.

SOURCE Isabel Healthcare Inc.

Source: PR Newswire

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