Instructions and Scoring

INSTRUCTIONS AND SCORING
Goals Strategy Scoring Rubric Submitting Your Diagnosis Bonus Points Case Epilog & Summary

Your primary goal is to select the best diagnosis for a given case from the list of possible diagnoses presented to you on submitting your diagnosis.
Your other goal is to justify your diagnosis by selecting most if not all of the key diagnostic tests that are considered most relevant for solving a given case while, at the same time, also selecting the fewest number of diagnostic tests that are irrelevant to patient's disease condition.

Thus your final score for a given case (see Scoring Rubric below) will ultimately depend on (1) whether or not you have selected the best diagnosis in one of two attempts to solve a case; and (2) how many of the key diagnostic tests you select before submitting your diagnosis.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Once you start working on a given case - i.e. you open the Case Prolog - you must complete the case in the time period allotted for each case - i.e., you must submit one or two diagnoses - in order to be credited with the points earned for that case.

Strategy:

First, carefully read the Case Prolog and History, which can sometimes be very helpful.
Next select a diagnostic test that you hope will point you in the right clinical direction. Obviously, guessing is a poor strategy but this may be necessary initially, just to get started on a case when there is no obvious rationale for selecting any particular diagnostic test.

There will be a Consultation option for many of these cases where you will find addition "expert" information, which is expensive - i.e., 200 non-refundable points will be deducted from your score (see Scoring Rubric below) - but which may help you solve the case or at least refine your strategy.

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Scoring Rubric: Starting Score = 3000 points; Current Score = Starting Score minus the following values:

Diagnostic Test Results - 50 points will be automatically deducted from your Current Score the first time you order any new diagnostic test.
Diagnostic Test Concepts - no points will be deducted from your Current Score.

Diagnostic Test Panels and Consultation - 200 nonrefundable points will be automatically deducted from your Current Score the first time you select any of the diagnostic test panels - i.e. the CBC Panel, the Cytokine Panel, or the Complement Panel - or you select the Consultation option.

500 points will automatically be deducted from your Current Score every time you click the "Submit your diagnosis (500)" button shown below whether or not you have selected the best diagnoses.

Bonus points: If you select the best diagnosis on your 1st or 2nd attempts to diagnose the case, refundable Bonus Points will be added to your score as discussed below.

Submitting Your Diagnosis: Be sure to follow these steps when you are ready to submit your diagnosis:

Click on this red button, which is found near the top of the Menu of Diagnostic Tests webpage.

Note: When you click on this button, 500 points will automatically be deducted from your Current Score but some points may be added back to your score in a subsequent step if your diagnosis is correct (see refundable Bonus Points below).

Note: Once you click on this button, select a diagnosis and DO NOT click the browser "Back" button because you will forfeit one of your two opportunities to diagnose the case and 500 points will still be deducted from your Current Score even if you have not actually submitted a diagnosis.
Carefully exam the menu of diagnostic options that are presented and select the diagnosis that you think most likely identifies the root cause of this patient's disease condition.
After you click on the button labeled - "Submit my diagnosis" - you will be given the option to change your diagnosis without any point penalty before recording you diagnosis and score.
To submit your diagnosis, click on the button labeled - "Record my score and diagnosis to the database."

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Refundable bonus Points for Submitting the Correct Diagnosis:

Correct diagnosis: The blue button above appears if you select the correct diagnosis on your 1st or 2nd attempt. Follow the instructions that appear after clicking this button in order to add bonus points to your score as a "reward" for making the correct diagnosis. Specifically, click on the button labeled - "Click here to record your amended score to the database." At this point, a webpage will appear directing you to the Case Epilog and Summary so you can find out more about the patient's condition.

Bonus points: If you select the correct diagnosis for this case on your 1st or 2nd attempt, your score will be amended as follows before it is re-submitted to the database.
- 50 bonus points will be refunded to your Current Score for any key diagnostic test you have already selected. Key diagnostic tests are those that provide the most definitive clues for solving a particular case. (The exact number of key tests can vary greatly from case to case.)

Incorrect diagnosis:

If you select an incorrect diagnosis on your 1st attempt, your Current Score - including the 500 point deduction - will be recorded to the database with no bonus points refunded at this point even if you have selected some of the key diagnostic tests. A webpage will redirect you back to Menu of Diagnostic Tests so that you can continue your attempt to solve this case by selecting additional tests before submitting your second diagnosis.
If both your 1st and 2nd diagnoses for this case are incorrect, your Current Score - including the two 500 point deductions - will be recorded to the database with no bonus points refunded even if you have selected some of the key diagnostic tests.
At this point, a link to the Case Epilog and Summary (see below) will appear so you can learn more about the patient's condition and how various diagnostic tests relate to this condition.
Important Note: Your scores and any diagnoses you make either after a successful diagnosis on your first or second attempts or after two unsuccessful attempts will not be retained in the database.

Case Epilog and Summary:

After you have either correctly diagnosed a case or after you have made two failed attempts, a web will appear with a link to the Case Epilog and Summary, which is intended to provide you with more details about the patient's condition and how various anomalous tests related to this condition. disorder. You are encouraged to study this information and revisit the diagnostic tests for the case in order to gain deeper understanding of the cause-and-effect relationships between the anomalous diagnostic test results and the underlying immune dysfunction (if known). .
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Goals Strategy Scoring Rubric Submitting Your Diagnosis Bonus Points Case Epilog & Summary