Integrating Virtual Patients Into Preclinical Education to Enhance Early Clinical Exposure and Skill Acquisition in Medical Students.

IF 1.7 Q2 EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES
Advances in Medical Education and Practice Pub Date : 2025-09-24 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.2147/AMEP.S538309
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
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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.

将虚拟病人纳入临床前教育,提高医学生早期临床接触和技能习得。
背景:虚拟患者(VPs)传统上用于临床教育,而不是临床前教学。然而,有限的研究已经评估了基于vp的会议在临床前几年提高早期临床暴露(ECE)的有效性。目的:评价基于虚拟现实的教学对二年级医学生临床技能模块的补充效果。方法:在这项前瞻性研究中,将临床技能模块中基于虚拟助理教学的有效性与传统的基于讲座的教学进行比较。所有在2022/2023和2023/2024学年注册的二年级医学生都被包括在内。2022/2023组(第一组)接受传统授课,2023/2024组(第二组)接受基于vp的辅导课。使用模块前和模块后测试以及形成性客观结构化临床检查(OSCE)分数来评估学生的表现。结果:组1(26.55 ± 22.45%)和组2(27.13 ± 26.21%)的组前模块测试成绩基线表现无显著差异(p = 0.681)。两组患者的模块后评分均有显著提高(组1:73.88 ± 15.11%;组2:75.01 ± 10.09%)。结论:本研究突出了将虚拟患者纳入临床前教育的价值。基于vp的教程显著提高了临床技能的发展,促进了早期临床接触,为临床前课程的传统教学方法提供了一个有希望的辅助手段。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Advances in Medical Education and Practice
Advances in Medical Education and Practice EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES-
CiteScore
3.10
自引率
10.00%
发文量
189
审稿时长
16 weeks
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