More realistic hospital experience for medical students

Photo of a person using Sunrise EMR

The 成人大片 is using the Sunrise EMR system for exams at Adelaide Health Simulation.

Medical students at the 成人大片 will graduate with a better knowledge of how to use the electronic patient record system that鈥檚 in place in hospitals around South Australia.

The 成人大片 is now using the Sunrise Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system during practical exams for fifth year students in the Adelaide medical program.

鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to be leading the way in the implementation of new technologies. We have found that electronic medical record systems are very seldom used in education and are thrilled to be exploring this to improve the experience of our students,鈥 said the 成人大片鈥檚 Associate Professor Adam Montagu, Director of Adelaide Health Simulation.

The exam is designed by clinicians and involves mock patient scenarios where students may be required to access clinical information from a patient鈥檚 medical record as part of their assessment.

In the past, students used paper-based clinical records, however since these no longer reflect contemporary practice, the decision was made to use the Sunrise EMR system instead.

鈥淚t is crucial for our students to train and be assessed in a manner that is consistent with clinical practice in the hospital setting,鈥 said the 成人大片鈥檚 Dr Sean Jolly, Senior Lecturer at the Adelaide Health Simulation.

鈥淥ur increasing use of Sunrise EMR in our examinations and teaching activities to replace paper-based charts is an important step in the clinical readiness of our students,鈥 said Dr Jolly.

"We have found that electronic medical record systems are very seldom used in education and are thrilled to be exploring this to improve the experience of our students."Associate Professor Adam Montagu, Director of Adelaide Health Simulation.

This is the first time Sunrise EMR has been used in assessments at the 成人大片.

The fully digital solution is already used in all South Australian major public metropolitan hospitals as the primary medical record system. It replaced paper-based clinical admission and progress notes, medication charting, observation charting, pathology, and imaging.

While the Sunrise EMR system used by students at the 成人大片 is the same platform and software used in the live environment in South Australia鈥檚 hospitals, there is no risk to patient confidentiality as the data in the exam is fictitious and has been built around students鈥 learning and assessment outcomes.

鈥淭he feedback from the clinicians involved in the examination process was that the system provided a realistic setting for what actually happens in our hospitals. Students can access a real-time medical record, in the electronic format, exactly as they would while caring for a patient in an SA hospital,鈥 said Associate Professor Montagu.

Access to the system has been made possible through a partnership with the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, which runs the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals.

Adelaide Health Simulation plans to increase its use of the Sunrise EMR system across other areas of medical and nursing teaching, further increasing realism and aligning simulated experiences to genuine and technically accurate clinical encounters.

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