Presented By: Jessica Saw, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Co-Authors: Kamryn Abraskin, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ryan Monjazeb, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chad Olson, National Center for Supercomputer Applications at University of Illinois
Tarika Patel, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Aditya Vaidyam, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Purpose 
MedTerms, created by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), is a web-based platform that uses visualization design and innovative software user interface development to support the workflows of medical student learning. Specifically, it supports students in understanding underlying medical concepts to reduce brute-force fact memorization. MedTerms also breaks down complex medical terms into smaller digestible concepts. 

Methods 
A multi-disciplinary team (user experience designer, educator, medical students) applied a design-thinking approach for the development of MedTerms. The process was split into discovery, design and implementation phases. Each phase involved iterative design cycles that continuously incorporated student feedback. 

Results 
Phase 1, a proof-of-concept for a limited number of diseases, was completed in December of 2022 (https://medterms.vi-bio.org) and piloted to first-year medical students. Phase 2 (current phase), takes MedTerms from the current proof-of-concept to a prototype. Phase 2 also brings in medical students through co-design, where students received hands-on experience in the software design and development process. Many elements of the Phase 1 design and functionality were improved given student feedback and real-world testing.

Conclusion 
The long-term goal of this project is to build MedTerms as a primary third-party resource for medical education available for public use. ??With contributors from the Carle Illinois College of Medicine and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIUC, we envision a collaboration that exemplifies the cross-section of medicine, education, design, and software engineering.