Dr. Benjamin Estrada, professor of pediatrics at the USA College of Medicine, recently created and published an interactive educational tool called Pediatric Call that provides more complete learning experiences for medical school students who are training in pediatrics.

“Many childhood illnesses are seasonal, such as RSV, a virus that can be life threatening,” said Estrada, who is a pediatric diseases specialist. “Pediatric Call offers medical students comprehensive real-life learning opportunities wherever their pediatric clerkship falls in the calendar year.”

The Pediatric Call program allows the medical students to perform virtual pediatric rounds and contains three-dimensional characters which play the role of hospital staff. These characters serve as part of the care team and closely simulate the interaction medical students have with the various scenarios found in the hospital setting. Using the tool, students encounter patients presenting with various sets of symptoms. The students order diagnostic tests and then following diagnosis, manage the care of their patients.

The program provides a wide range of encounters that medical students have during their pediatric clerkship. The program includes patients with congenital heart disease, childhood obesity, diabetes, fever, meningitis, and other pediatric conditions that require medical care.

Pediatric Call is a part of the MedEdPortal publications, which was launched in 2006 by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). MedEdPortal allows faculty to distribute their peer reviewed educational teaching materials and provides teaching aides and shared resources from medical professionals.

For more information on Pediatric Call or MedEdPortal, please visit www.aamc.org/mededportal