Papanagnou Dimitrios, Bierowski Abagayle, Morrone Casey, Ghei Ridhima, Rising Kristin L, McCarthy Danielle M, Formella Kyle T, Vozenilek John A, Chandra Shruti, Ankam Nethra
Emergency Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA.
Emergency Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA.
Cureus. 2025 Jul 20;17(7):e88385. doi: 10.7759/cureus.88385. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Diagnostic uncertainty is a reality of clinical care, particularly in emergency medicine. The ability to communicate this uncertainty to patients and families, however, remains underdeveloped in medical education curricula. Traditional simulation training is regarded as the gold standard for teaching difficult conversations, but resource constraints can limit access, especially for larger cohorts of learners. Faced with this challenge, we turned to a tool our team developed: the Uncertainty Communication mobile application (app). With over 200 medical students entering their fourth year of training, we used this app to deliver real-time, large-scale, skill-based learning, without simulation rooms, standardized patients, or small-group role-play. Students practiced communicating diagnostic uncertainty to patients, received immediate feedback, and reflected on patient-centered communication strategies. Their responses were generally positive. While not a formal study or intended to replace the role of traditional simulation training, our experience reaffirms how the intentional integration of mobile tools into medical training can introduce complex skills, like communicating diagnostic uncertainty, into scalable and practical learning solutions. As we train the next generation of physicians, such tools may offer educators some degree of flexibility when training large cohorts of students.
诊断不确定性是临床医疗中的一个现实情况，在急诊医学中尤为如此。然而，在医学教育课程中，向患者及其家属传达这种不确定性的能力仍未得到充分发展。传统的模拟培训被视为教授困难对话的黄金标准，但资源限制可能会限制其使用，尤其是对于大量学习者而言。面对这一挑战，我们转向了我们团队开发的一种工具：不确定性沟通移动应用程序（应用程序）。有200多名进入四年级培训的医学生，我们使用这个应用程序进行实时、大规模、基于技能的学习，无需模拟室、标准化患者或小组角色扮演。学生们练习向患者传达诊断不确定性，得到即时反馈，并思考以患者为中心的沟通策略。他们的反应总体上是积极的。虽然这不是一项正式研究，也无意取代传统模拟培训的作用，但我们的经验再次证明，将移动工具有意地整合到医学培训中，可以将诸如传达诊断不确定性等复杂技能引入可扩展且实用的学习解决方案中。在我们培养下一代医生时，此类工具可能会在培训大量学生时为教育工作者提供一定程度的灵活性。
