Reston, VA and Rochester, NY - The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest independent medical student organization, is leading efforts to bring information technology to the front lines of education by offering VisualDx to its over 68,000 members. VisualDx, an Internet-based visual diagnosis aid proven to increase diagnostic accuracy, gives students immediate access to areas of medicine that are typically underserved in today's heavy medical curriculums.

VisualDx readies students for real-world practices due to the influx of health information technology seen in daily medicine. The collaboration of bring a visual diagnosis educational resource to medical students is the first of its kind, and the recommendation given by the largest and oldest physician-in-training association, AMSA, shows their belief in VisualDx as a valuable asset and partner in education. AMSA National President, Michael Ehlert MD, is proud of this new partnership. "Physicians interact with patients face-to-face, and visual clues and signs are the first in diagnosis and treatment. AMSA believes in using technology to revolutionize medical education, and we believe that VisualDx is part of the next generation of tools. With so many resources available, it is hard for students to shift through them, and we are excited to highlight and endorse such an innovative and useful tool."

With an estimated 15 percent of patient encounters having a skin or oral lesion complaint, there is a clear need to improve the ability of students to visually diagnose and recognize disease. Typically, specialty areas of medicine where visual diagnosis is key receive only 1 to 2 days of teaching during 4 years of medical curriculum. To help students from becoming overwhelmed with intense schedules, overloaded curriculums, and a plethora of information to be memorized, we must provide them with access to health information technologies that augment the traditional learning environment. Technologies like VisualDx not only assist students in developing lifelong learning skills but also help them feel more confident that they have considered all relevant conditions before concluding their diagnosis and treating their patient.
"We are seeing a transition in medical education from a memory-based environment to an information-technology-assisted environment. It is critical that IT resources such as VisualDx are instilled early in education to support the development of visual diagnostic skills. When these medical students get into the field, the result will be improved quality care through increased diagnostic accuracy," said Art Papier, MD, Chief Scientific Officer at Logical Images, the creator of VisualDx, and Associate Professor in Dermatology and Medical Informatics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.