KnowledgeMap

Summary

KnowledgeMap delivers the next generation in web-based search tool technology by allowing medical school faculty and students the ability to access curriculum instructional materials by concept. The KnowledgeMap approach to search serves more than the isolated desire for an individual answer, but instead provides a holistic perspective of a specific concept in the context of the entire medical school experience and curriculum.

Description

KnowledgeMap was developed within the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VSM) to enhance the delivery of medical education. The volume of documentation produced during medical school and the need to understand where similar topics or themes are taught prompted the school to explore how technology could provide a tool for the assessment of the medical school curriculum, while at the same time improving the student learning experience.

In addition to routine course management tools to display and manage courses, the inventors developed the KnowledgeMap Concept Identifier (KMCI), rooted in the terminology found in the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System (UMLS). KMCI assigns a relationship between terms and general concepts. This association defines the meaning of the term and expands or limits the scope of the KMCI. KMCI attempts to capture the concept behind the terms being entered. In many cases, for example, acronyms, scientific or common names all may translate to the same concept, but entered in multiple ways. KMCI understands the connection and presents the various terms as a single concept. The consolidation permits the user's search of phrases and terms to result in a display of related concepts as found in and across the VSM curriculum, regardless of its specific academic course. The user, by selecting a specific concept, can then establish the foundation for a "smart search" in which the tool understands the particular meaning or goal of the specific search.

Once launched, the same KnowledgeMap functionality used to address the faculty's desire to understand the presence of content across the curriculum was recognized as having application in the instructional aid to medical students. In the fall semester of 2002, KnowledgeMap was introduced to the medical students as a pilot program in one class. Almost immediately students embraced the system and demanded that more courses adopt KnowledgeMap. Since that time, faculty members have uploaded their course materials into the system with nearly 100% of VSM courses now searchable in KnowledgeMap.

The rapid rate of adoption of KnowledgeMap at VSM has inspired further enhancements to meet new identified needs within the VSM community. KnowledgeMap has become firmly entrenched as a tool for students to search against current or past course materials through all years of medical school. As students progress through the program and enter the practicum-focused third and fourth years, KnowledgeMap adds value as a referential database through a new modular add-in called KnowledgeMap Portfolio (Portfolio). Portfolio is an interactive Learning Management System that provides additional instructional value by capturing the student's individual patient interaction.

Where KnowledgeMap uses faculty-produced lectures and other resources, Portfolio applies the student-created documents reflecting their direct patient experiences via the Electronic Medical Records (EMR). The interface between the EMR system and Portfolio provides historical data from which students can continue to build their knowledge base, tagged to core learning objectives and supplies the mentor the opportunity to review and evaluate student performance.

Potential Market Size

KnowledgeMap was initially created for use in a medical education setting.

As such, the market size is attractive, but limited (144 domestic medical schools).

-U.S. Medical Schools: 120

-Annual license fee (estimate):

$50,000

-Total Medical School Market:

$6,000,000

Furthermore, KnowledgeMap could be leveraged as a content delivery technology in any biomedical domain, including graduate medical education, nursing education or biomedical research.

Value Proposition

Faculty and Administration -

KnowledgeMap is a curriculum assessment tool that enables medical school faculty and administration to manage curricular documents such that they might efficiently evaluate where, how and when a subject is taught within the curriculum and determine the most effective and responsive delivery of medical education. It incorporates robust protection of intellectual property that allows continuous access to learning materials throughout medical school in a manner that is respectful of copyright laws and individual intellectual property.

Students -

KnowledgeMap grants students access to the course materials within the medical school curriculum via an online conceptual search tool, uniquely presenting the information by its relationship to a concept across all curricular subjects. As a reference and study tool, KnowledgeMap provides a valuable resource in building the foundation of medical academic knowledge.

Students and Faculty -

KnowledgeMap Portfolio reinforces the didactic instruction with an experiential learning environment by utilizing a comprehensive capture of students' clinical documents and providing a forum for communication between faculty and students.

Current Competitive Products

Blackboard

WebCT