Learning Simulation:
Weill Cornell Medicine, NYC
This project is best experienced on a desktop. Please view it there to enjoy all the details!
In January 2020, we embarked on a project with Dr Jonathan St. George, inspired by his dedication and passion for medical education. The Protected Airway Course (PAC) learning installation is his brainchild. It is a one-day event to strengthen learners’ airway knowledge, which integrates digital and physical learning experiences. It creatively provides a museum-liked learning experience for students to explore the stations freely and on their own.
Compared with current mainstream learning patterns, the medical school focused on lectures, mentor-led learning and theory-focused approaches. PAC has some innovative visions on their learning patterns. Based on these key values, we began with our process to understand learning experiences and their current course structure.
The core of the journey was to create an immersive, interactive and self-directed medical learning experience. The PAC is a one-day event in which resident doctors have the chance to practice, learn and redo the basic and advanced procedures involved in effective treatment for operating with airways.
We participated in a smaller simulation which included listening material, practice booths and simulations. These helped us get a sense of the structure of the course. We were able to passively observe and interact with the participants.
Journey Mapping and Synthesis
Basis of our engagements with the participants we mapped out their current journeys, their aspirations, painpoints and how “they” wanted to learn.
The As-is journey of the participants through the day as they navigated between different stations and got marked. This was also influenced by a 500 point announcement which had different repercussions over their learning experiences.
The To-be journey was defined by the real needs of the participants and they envisioning a smoother possible transition between different stations. This would help them engage with more content and keep them connected without feeling rushed.
Research and Activities
Over the next few weeks after our initial observation sessions in our designing phases, we designed multiple participatory research methods that focused on individual learning goals, mapping, feedback, and suggestions. These activities helped us gauge the participants' real needs and wants and align them with the demands of the clients.
Our Vision and Proposed Concepts
At the core of an effective study-structure were time management and navigation. This helped residents make most of the learning material. Their interactions with each other and the installation helped them revise the content. We envisioned a smoother system with interactions that add value to their current system of thinking. Using various creative tools and prototypes, we build multiple options to plan and map out their day effectively. These options focused on interactive learning, sharing out and approaches to hands-on learning with artifacts that could be referred to later.
Deliverable and Impact
Basis of the proposed concepts, after multiple conversations with the clients, we decided to build an Information System that would help participants navigate the experience better. These included handouts, information and directional signage and wayfinding systems. Our goal was to create a strategic plan for the team to deploy at the earliest and sustain or replicate throughout different learning experiences.
Ref1ections, The Pandemic and Us
We live in extraordinary times.
In January 2020, we embarked on this project with Dr Jonathan St. George, inspired by his dedication and passion for medical education. He shared with us the incredible efforts that he had been putting in for a learning installation for the Protected Airway Course, the first of its kind, a museum-like experience that puts students at the centre. We worked closely to explore ways to take the installation to the next level, observing and talking to students and faculty, and even attempted some of the simulated procedures like intubation ourselves. The work of doctors is so risky and complicated, furthering our conviction on the importance of learning through experiential methods, and not simply taking in knowledge through lectures and slides.
Today, many of these doctors we’ve had the privilege of interacting with are at the medical frontlines, saving lives. While we understand that priorities have shifted, the work doesn’t stop on our end. We’ve continued to work on enhancing the installation experience based on the research and insights we gathered so far, and look forward to the day that students can once again roam the medical halls and build their skills towards becoming better medical professionals.
