MedLab allows global access to cutting-edge medical education programming

CHICAGO (November 7, 2019)—On National STEM Day, November 8, 2019, the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI) will launch the world's first multi-user simulated medical science lab, MedLab, to celebrate the "M" in STEM as the institution defines it - science, technology, engineering and medicine.

Using cutting-edge technology and programming, students work as a classroom and take on the role of medical interns, working alongside a virtual doctor to meet their patient, make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. Together, students participate in dynamic hands-on programming including:

• Using innovative touchscreen activities, such as simulating the scanning of a virtual patient during an MRI.
• Reviewing symptoms and family history.
• Conducting virtual tests like taking a pulse, testing spinal fluid and examining blood cells.
• Making a diagnosis of lead poisoning, viral meningitis or tuberculosis, and selecting a treatment course.
• Discovering careers in the field that directly correlate with each component of the program.

"Since its foundation, MSI has always been a world leader in science education, continuing to be ahead of the curve in introducing complex ideas into the minds of young students," said MSI President and CEO David Mosena. "The Museum is proud to debut MedLab to introduce the next generation of digital learners to the future of hands-on, interactive learning."

MSI collaborated with an advisory committee of medical professionals from the University of Chicago, Robert Crown Center, Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison and more to create MedLab, which was then piloted at more than a dozen schools in the Chicagoland area.

"We hope that exposing teachers to virtual tools like MedLab can empower to cultivate a lifelong curiosity in their students towards medical and scientific careers in improving health," said MedLab Advisory Committee member Dr. Vineet Arora, assistant dean for scholarship and discovery at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

MSI's Dedication to Advancing Education in Medicine

Through the Museum's Welcome to Science Initiative, 700,000 students and teachers participate in on- and off-site science education programming every year. MedLab was designed to push that number further by offering free educational resources available anywhere in the world, and joins a robust suite of technology-based educational materials designed by the institution.

The program was funded as part of the SIMLAB grant awarded to MSI through a Science Education Partnership Award from the National Institutes of Health. The grant funded the creation of three on-site medical labs and one virtual lab. The grant also funded programming for iStan, a state-of-the-art Human Patient Simulator. iStan, for "Standard Man," is part of the Museum's medical innovations area of the YOU! The Experience exhibit. This computer-controlled, full-sized mannequin is normally used to train medical and nursing students in a hospital setting, and he has also guest-starred on episodes of "ER" and "Grey's Anatomy."

Since their debut in 2014, the onsite MedLab programs have seen more than 12,000 students in programming consisting of:

• MedLab: Asthma: Diagnose asthma as you work with a human patient simulator and analyze cells with a microscope.
• MedLab: Diabetes: Use authentic hospital lab equipment and work with a human patient simulator to diagnose diabetes.
• MedLab: Heart Disease: Use an ultrasound simulator and complete real medical tests to diagnose heart disease in a human patient simulator.