Tamer M M Abuamara, Wagih M Abd-Elhay, Hasan S Al-Ghamdi, Mohammad A Alghamdi, Razan Abed A Baloush, Dahlia Soleman A Mirdad, Ahmed Abdulwahab Bawahab, Mohammed Abd El Malik Hassan, Naji Al-Bawah
{"title":"Integrating Virtual Patients Into Preclinical Education to Enhance Early Clinical Exposure and Skill Acquisition in Medical Students.","authors":"Tamer M M Abuamara, Wagih M Abd-Elhay, Hasan S Al-Ghamdi, Mohammad A Alghamdi, Razan Abed A Baloush, Dahlia Soleman A Mirdad, Ahmed Abdulwahab Bawahab, Mohammed Abd El Malik Hassan, Naji Al-Bawah","doi":"10.2147/AMEP.S538309","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Virtual patients (VPs) have traditionally been utilized in clinical education rather than in preclinical instruction. However, limited research has evaluated the effectiveness of VP-based sessions in enhancing early clinical exposure (ECE) during the preclinical years.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To assess the impact of VP-based tutorials in supplementing the Clinical Skills module for second-year medical students.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this prospective study, the effectiveness of VP-based tutorials was compared to conventional lecture-based teaching within the Clinical Skills module. All second-year medical students enrolled during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic years were included. The 2022/2023 cohort (Group 1) received traditional lectures, while the 2023/2024 cohort (Group 2) participated in VP-based tutorials. Student performance was evaluated using pre- and post-module tests and formative Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) scores.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Baseline performance showed no significant difference in pre-module test scores between Group 1 (26.55 ± 22.45%) and Group 2 (27.13 ± 26.21%) (p = 0.681). Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in post-module scores (Group 1: 73.88 ± 15.11%; Group 2: 75.01 ± 10.09%, p<0.0001 for both), with no significant difference between the two (p = 0.129). However, Group 2 achieved significantly higher OSCE scores compared to Group 1 (82.62 ± 11.03% vs 75.80 ± 14.38%, p<0.0001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study highlights the value of incorporating virtual patients into preclinical education. VP-based tutorials significantly enhance clinical skill development and facilitate early clinical exposure, offering a promising adjunct to traditional teaching methods in preclinical curricula.</p>","PeriodicalId":47404,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Medical Education and Practice","volume":"16 ","pages":"1705-1715"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12477063/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Advances in Medical Education and Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S538309","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Virtual patients (VPs) have traditionally been utilized in clinical education rather than in preclinical instruction. However, limited research has evaluated the effectiveness of VP-based sessions in enhancing early clinical exposure (ECE) during the preclinical years.
Aim: To assess the impact of VP-based tutorials in supplementing the Clinical Skills module for second-year medical students.
Methods: In this prospective study, the effectiveness of VP-based tutorials was compared to conventional lecture-based teaching within the Clinical Skills module. All second-year medical students enrolled during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic years were included. The 2022/2023 cohort (Group 1) received traditional lectures, while the 2023/2024 cohort (Group 2) participated in VP-based tutorials. Student performance was evaluated using pre- and post-module tests and formative Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) scores.
Results: Baseline performance showed no significant difference in pre-module test scores between Group 1 (26.55 ± 22.45%) and Group 2 (27.13 ± 26.21%) (p = 0.681). Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in post-module scores (Group 1: 73.88 ± 15.11%; Group 2: 75.01 ± 10.09%, p<0.0001 for both), with no significant difference between the two (p = 0.129). However, Group 2 achieved significantly higher OSCE scores compared to Group 1 (82.62 ± 11.03% vs 75.80 ± 14.38%, p<0.0001).
Conclusion: This study highlights the value of incorporating virtual patients into preclinical education. VP-based tutorials significantly enhance clinical skill development and facilitate early clinical exposure, offering a promising adjunct to traditional teaching methods in preclinical curricula.