25/08/2013
Milestone Xprotect helps medical students
Copenhagen, Denmark and St Andrews, UK
Medvu is based on a customised integration of Milestone Xprotect Enterprise open platform IP VMS, Xprotect Transact and Xprotect Smart Client. Milestone Certified Partner King Communications worked closely with Milestone’s professional services team to complete both front and back-end system customisations.
The system monitors and records simultaneously up to 46 clinical skills practical exams carried out at separate ‘bed head’ bays. All bays are monitored by high or standard definition pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) network video cameras from Axis Communications . They are viewed on two large monitors in the school technician’s room where instructions can be relayed via individual speakers to each of the bays. All bays are fitted with integrated microphones for simultaneous audio and video recording.
The front-end system created through the Milestone Xprotect Smart Client is very easy to use: students can set the bay’s own PTZ camera to the location needed, enter their Medvu username and password, start and stop recording - all via a simple touchscreen display over the bed head. This enables students to carry out ‘guided study’ tasks in their own time without the need for a teacher or technician to be present. They view and select their recorded clips, choose the best video clip and move it into their evidence portfolio.
Cameras are also installed in six interview rooms that are set up like doctors’ offices. These are used to help medical students learn key communication skills such as building rapport, gathering medical history and specific symptom information from actors posing as patients. Video evidence saved by Medvu in these sessions is assessed in a classroom environment with peers and teachers as part of the learning process.
Julie Struthers, Learning Technology Consultant at St Andrews University School of Medicine, says: “Medvu enables our students to build and secure a comprehensive video portfolio which proves their practical capabilities in key clinical and communications skills. Students can bookmark sections of video – noting good practice and areas of improvement for the future. Medvu is now integrated into our Galen Curriculum Management System.”
King Communications & Security Ltd is the certified Platinum Milestone Partner who installed the system. They built the highly secure web portal which enables students to view and compile their videos. Milestone’s professional services team created a batched export process enabling the videos to publish to the web portal within an hour of recording. Access to Medvu is restricted to enrolled students only.
Martyn King, Managing Director of King Communications, concludes: “We’ve designed and developed a unique integrated solution from scratch, working with Milestone, integrating with the university’s Active Directory and with its Galen Curriculum Management System database. The Medvu system proves that the benefits of Milestone Xprotect open platform VMS extend well beyond the traditional security applications for which it was originally designed.”