Portrait of Ms. Diaz: Empirical study of patient journey mapping instruction for medical professional students

An interdisciplinary team of educators from medicine, design, and informatics piloted an online journey map (JM) exercise targeting 48 medical students and physicians assistants students. The JM exercise was designed to teach about patient empathy skills, person-centred care, and the socio-ecologic determinants of health. Prior to the exercise, the students were given a sample patient archetype introducing Ms. Diaz, a person with diabetes visiting a virtual clinic. Students worked in small groups to create a JM from Ms. Diaz’ perspective about, and experiences with, a telemedicine clinic. Our preliminary qualitative analysis of the JMs from the exercise showed that learners were able to create JMs that included all key sections including process phases, user perceptions, pain points, and design opportunities. Almost half of the responses focused upon socio-cultural and socio-technical issues as opposed to strictly clinical concerns. We believe this pilot shows the potential for journey maps to be used in health professional education to empathize with patients, identify societal problems in healthcare delivery, and design responsive solutions. Furthermore, the virtual classroom format highlights the scalability and extensibility of this strategy to a broad range of educational goals.