The Diagnostic Pathfinder System

Introduction

Getting Started

Introduction

DP System designed and developed by the Biomedical Informatics Research Group Working members are Drs. Holly Bender, Jared Danielson,

Rick Mills, Pam Vermeer Intent of Diagnostic Pathfinder software is to help

students learn a process for diagnostic reasoning It does so by providing the history and lab data for a

case, and requiring that users follow certain steps in order to provide a rationale that explains the data

The final step allows the user to compare their rationale with the instructor’s

The Tools

Diagnostic Pathfinder -- fairly solid Used by learners to work through cases Used by instructors to create solutions,

presentations, and perform certain administrative tasks

Case Editor – beta software Used by instructors to edit existing cases, create

new cases, and add, delete, and reorder cases in a course

The Tools (cont.)

Report Generator – fairly solid Used by instructor

To see how many cases users in the course have completed

To see solutions for specific cases and users

Course Manager – beta software Used by instructor

To add individuals to the course To modify individual’s access privileges within a course To add cases from a previous course to another course To reorder or delete cases from a course

Getting Started

Installing the Software

Logging In

Installing the Software

Obtain the software from http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/Pathfinder/Faculty The four links on the software tool names on this

page are software download links When you click on a link, Java Web Start begins,

and the program begins to load.

Installing the Software (cont)

When certain components download, you will see a security dialog .

Installing the Software (cont) On each dialog, click the box “Always trust content from this

publisher.” and then click Run. If you do not click the “Always trust content from this publisher.”

box, you will get this security question each time you start the software.

Installing the Software (cont)

When the software is installed, you will be asked about creating shortcuts to the application.

Selecting Yes will put a shortcut on your desktop and in your start menu

Selecting No will require you to go to the website and start the software from there every time.

Java Web Start Notes

You can access all programs you have downloaded via Java Web Start through the program

C:\Program Files\Java\jreXXX\bin\javaws.exe Installing the program this way allows me to

update the program easily. I can update the files on the server, and when you start the program, it will check for updates before starting.

Logging In to DP System Tools

All four tools use the same login dialog, with a different title on it.

Your login id and password are the same for all the tools

Your login id is your full ISU email address, e.g. hbender@iastate.edu

Your initial password is the same as your login id

Initialization…..

Some of the programs perform an initialization from the database either before or after displaying the login window. A dialog will tell you this is happening if it takes longer than a few seconds.

Logging In (cont)

The first time you login to one of the tools, you will be asked to change your password:

This new password is stored encrypted on the local computer and in our database, and will be used for your access to all the DP tools.

Logging In (cont)

After you have entered your login id and password, if you have access to more than one course, you will be asked to choose which one you want to open.

For this workshop, you should have access to (at least) two courses. Select the one that has your last name in the course title.

Author Preferences

New authors need to set up their preferred default settings

This dialog can be accessed from the Tools menu to change these defaults if you want to enter a case from a different institution, for example

Main Window is Displayed

Insertion Preferences

You can specify where you want lab sheet items to be placed when you insert them

From the Tests menu, select “Insertion Preferences”

An Exercise

Before we proceed to enter a case Install the Diagnostic Pathfinder from the web

page

http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/Pathfinder/Faculty

Login to it using your new password