NEJM Group releases a series of five Covid-19 interactive cases

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.May 19 2020

NEJM Group today released Covid-19 Rx: Treatment Simulations, a series of five Covid-19 interactive cases that range from a mild self-limited flu-like illness to life-threatening multi-organ failure.

Designed to teach clinicians on the frontlines of the pandemic, the detailed cases feature clinical information on each of the five fictional patients.

In one, the patient is a young woman who arrives to the emergency room with fever and cough. In another, an elderly man with probable Covid-19 and respiratory distress and a history of hypertension and COPD was transferred to the ICU from an outside hospital.

Once in the virtual patient room, users are tasked with gathering data, developing a differential diagnosis, ordering additional diagnostic tests, and treating the patient.

Patient and disease factors, and the choice and timing of treatments, impact the outcome of the illness. However, as in real life, sickness may prevail despite best efforts.

Each case may have different underlying diseases and outcomes if replayed. Users are encouraged to replay cases -- in particular the critical and expert levels -- and experience the spectrum of Covid-19 disease presentations. All cases were designed and reviewed by physicians and are freely available.

Our goal when developing these cases was to provide a realistic medical simulation with free and open patient interaction, where clinical decisions are integrated with patient factors to determine the odds of disease progression. Therefore, a patient may not have a response to treatment, even if the treatment given was the appropriate one."

Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D., NEJM Group Editor

In addition to the five treatment simulations, the series also offers a Covid-19 interactive primer, which covers the basic concepts of managing mild patients who are suspected or confirmed of having Covid-19.

Covid-19 Rx: Treatment Simulations are featured now on the NEJM.org Coronavirus (Covid-19) topic page and NEJM Resident 360.