PediaLabs

Partner(s): Rita Marie John, Mary McCord, and Arlene Smaldone School of Nursing, College of Physicians & Surgeons Access: Private Released: September 2014 VIEW PROJECT

Clinicians require accurate laboratory tests to help them diagnose illness and screen for diseases. Yet, even the best laboratory test is not perfect; it can miss a condition or falsely report a patient as having a condition. PediaLabs is designed to improve graduate nursing and medical students' understanding of the underlying concepts that direct the proper use and interpretation of pediatric laboratory tests. The site offers two online training modules to explain six concepts: reliability, validity, sensitivity, specificity, predictive value, and prevalence of a disease in a given population.

PediaLab's first module uses didactic self-directed instruction with immediate-feedback quizzes, graphs, case examples, and animations intended to provide an enhanced learning experience for students. The second module is comprised of case exercises that draw from real patient examples. Students must examine the cases, interpret labs tests, and then make diagnoses and follow-up decisions. PediaLabs was developed in partnership with Rita Marie John, DNP, CPNP; Mary McCord, MD; and Arlene Smaldone, DNSc, CPNP of the Columbia University Medical Center.

Related project categories:
Medicine and Health | Online & Directed Learning | Training