Our mission
To ensure all medical students have the knowledge and support they need to succeed as confident clinicians on the ward.
How Capsule began
Capsule was launched in September 2016 and was co-created by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) and Ocasta, an education technology company.
The clinical learning resource was launched because BSMS noticed a large learning gap that was occurring with their final year students. Their learning programme required final year students to go on three extensive placements at regional centres across the South East. During this time, clinical practice was increased but class-based learning was reduced. The team at BSMS recognised that medical students weren’t getting the support or knowledge they needed whilst on clinical placement.
This is where Capsule came in. The platform was designed to support students through a reliable, self-directed learning resource that allowed them to practice their application of knowledge and gain instant feedback to maximise development. It needed to span the entire curriculum goals and map to the national competencies.
Who was involved in Capsule’s creation?
The original concept was developed by Prof. Richard Vincent, Associate Dean and Lead for Year 5 students at BSMS at the time.
The case content was written and edited by a large number of clinicians and healthcare workers across NHS Trusts in the South East and leadership was subsequently taken up by Prof. David Howlett, Radiologist and Clinical Academic within BSMS. David continues to drive the vision of Capsule to be as beneficial to medical education as possible.
The team at Ocasta wrote and built the software for Capsule whilst offering strategic advice from inception to delivery.
Tim Vincent, learning technologist at Brighton and Sussex Medical School is the digital lead for the platform, offering faculty training and support.
The Capsule Journey
2007 - BSMS defined their vision and began writing up clinical cases which they delivered through their internal platform. Whilst the concept worked, students were dissatisfied with the technical capabilities of the current platform. BSMS needed a digitally enhanced version that delivered a superior user experience.
2015 - BSMS started work with Ocasta the software development agency who built the new, digitally enhanced platform. Together they designed and delivered a brand new mobile-first learning platform, built on years of feedback from students to ensure a high-quality interface with the essential features that students were seeking. The platform was launched under the name of Capsule (Clinical And Professional Studies Unique Learning Environment) and was used within BSMS.
2015 - 2018 - Capsule was successfully rolled out to years 3 and 4 medical students and the new mobile-first platform was greatly received by the students and teachers alike.
2018 - 2019 - After recognising the crucial role that Capsule played in supporting medical students whilst on their clinical placement, it became obvious that other medical schools could greatly benefit from Capsule.
Imperial College London was added to the platform alongside the University of East Anglia and Leicester University.
2019 - 2020 - Birmingham University was added to the platform.
March 2020 - The Covid pandemic hit and clinical placements were suspended in March 2020. At this point, the value of Capsule as a universal case-based learning resource to support students during lockdown was identified by the Medical Schools Council. A generous sponsorship arrangement enabled a rapid technical enhancement to be made to accommodate every UK medical student and a rapid review of all the case content, directed by Prof Amir Sam at Imperial Medical School.
May 2020 - Capsule was made available to all UK medical schools in May 2020 and has had over 1,000,000 case completions by students.
Capsule did its first deployment overseas at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Malawi.
October 2020 - Capsule received a sustainability grant to redevelop the platform as a worldwide clinical learning tool.
1,000,000+
Cases Created
60+
Institutions
40,000
Current students & learners