A brief history of PedsCases
PedsCases (www.pedscases.com) is an innovative source of pediatric knowledge dissemination which began in 2008 as a grassroots project by several medical students with faculty support at the University of Alberta to supplement the undergraduate curriculum [1].  Pediatric curriculum is often not presented in an integrated or cohesive manner and students have found it challenging to obtain a comprehensive foundation in pediatric medicine prior to entering clerkship. PedsCases was developed to fill this gap and consists of interactive cases, podcasts, videos and links to supplement undergraduate learning.  PedsCases allows students to experience core virtual cases not seen in their clerkship experience.  The goal is that PedsCases will deliberately generate content in a variety of formats including virtual patients, to ensure core pediatric knowledge is translated to undergraduate learners in a comprehensive manner.

Over the past six years, PedsCases has fostered an innovative computer-based learning environment for teaching and evaluation of clinical reasoning.  It thus far has over 55,000 unique visitors from over 150 countries and over 1,000,000 podcast downloads.  The PedsCases team has grown to include over a dozen students and Faculty across Canada and developed a guide on how to create high quality learning content [2].  A culture of innovation and quality improvement is embedded in PedsCases, and we continue to evaluate content and learning modalities, and refine them where appropriate [3].  PedsCases is transitioning to align with CanUC-Paeds, the National Undergraduate Curriculum in Pediatrics which was developed through the Pediatric Undergraduate Program Directors of Canada (PUPDOC).  The University of Alberta was the first to unroll the curriculum and PedsCases is well positioned to be a key educational tool to compliment the National Curriculum.  

References: 
1. Gill P, Kitney L, Kozan D, Lewis M. Online Learning in Pediatrics: A Student Led Web-Based Learning Modality. The Clinical Teacher. 2010 Mar;7(1):53-57.
2. Das D, Bischoff M, Macpherson P, Gerdung C, Gill P, Kitney L, Lewis M. PedsCases Content Production Handbook: A Glimpse into the Future of Medical Education. University of Toronto Medical Journal, North America, 88, Apr. 2011. Available at: http://utmj.org/ojs/index.php/UTMJ/article/view/1327.
3. Kitney L, Gill P, MacPherson P, North R, Gerdung C, Lewis M. PedsCases for Medical Students Studying Paediatrics: A Prospective Study. University of Alberta Health Sciences Journal. 2014 April;10(1):48-52.

A note about content - PedsCases Disclaimer
See the PedsCases Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy for more information. PedsCases and its associated resources is a not-for-profit online resource developed by medical students for medical students. All material generated or created in association with PedsCases including past, present and future work, was done in good faith to assist in the learning process of medical students in Canada and worldwide. All material was created in a not-for-profit fashion and none of the founders, authors or contributors (herein referred to as 'contributors') have, do, or will benefit financially from the resource. The sole purpose of PedsCases is to help medical students (herein referred to as 'users') learn about pediatrics.

PedsCases uses various learning modalities to teach pediatric knowledge for medical students in training. It may be used as a guide to assist trainees who are learning clinical medicine and preparing for their clinical rotations. PedsCases is a tool to be used as a framework to guide learning. PedsCases should be only be used in combination with other textbooks and resources, and strong clinical mentorship and teaching offered through an accredited medical educational institution.

Knowledge of medical sciences and practice is constantly changing; therefore, PedsCases users should use individual judgment and reference current sources of information as they become available. Although PedsCases contributors have made reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein at the time of publication, they do not guarantee that this information is accurate, complete, current, or suitable for any particular purpose.

PedsCases contributors make no representations or warranties, explicit or implied, in relation to PedsCases, its associated content, or the contents herein. The contributors are not responsible for any errors or omissions. The contributors will not be held liable for any loss, damage or injury arising from the use of PedsCases. 

PedsCases contributors have done their best to ensure any material derived from other resources is adequately and appropriately attributed and referenced. Any use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in the creation of text or imagery for PedsCases content are disclosed, including the name of the AI program used, and the authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy and integrity of all AI-generated content. If there are inadvertent errors or omissions in failing to correctly attribute or reference any material, please contact pedscases@gmail.com and PedsCases contributors will strive to rectify the situation as soon as possible.