Effectiveness of virtual patients in teaching clinical decision‐making skills to dental students

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of virtual patient‐based training on the clinical decision‐making ability of dental students. Methods This quasi‐experimental study with pretest and posttest design was conducted on 76 (2015 admitted) dental students of Shiraz Dental School in 2018–2019. The study samples were randomly divided into 2 groups: intervention (web‐based virtual patient training = 36) and control (face‐to‐face case‐based training, n = 40). The data collection tools in this study included a questionnaire consisting of 2 sections: demographic information and procedural knowledge. The key‐feature test was used to measure procedural knowledge and problem‐solving ability in students. Content validity was confirmed by 7 faculty members. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS Statistics version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the samples, Independent‐t test was used to compare the scores between the 2 groups, and repeated measures ANOVA was used to assess the effect of time on the training provided. P < 0.05 was considered as the acceptable significance level. Results The mean clinical‐decision‐making score in the intervention group (11.3 ± 88.88) was more than the control group (8.2 ± 45.54) in Posttest 1 (1 week after intervention), and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Besides, the scores in the control group (8.2 ± 45.54) rose more significantly than the intervention group (11.3 ± 0.86) in Posttest 2 (1 month after intervention) (P < 0.001). Conclusion The results of the present research showed that application of virtual patient (VP)‐based training can improve learning and clinical decision‐making ability of dental students. Moreover, group discussions in physical classrooms should be held alongside VP programs in order to ensure the maximum retention of the topics learned.

Effectiveness of Virtual Reality and Interactive Simulators on Dental Education Outcomes: Systematic Review

“…Despite the fact that few studies reported longer periods of follow-up and reported insignificant differences between virtual and traditional groups. 39,48,49,74 The diversity in students' learning styles and motivation is the crucial challenge which course designers face. The introduction of virtual simulators in the dental curriculum and the utilization of its data to stratify dental students and predict their clinical performance would provide the opportunity to tailor the learning process to meet individual diversity in students' expertise and allow students to work at their own pace.…”

COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on dental education: discussing current and future perspectives

“…Recently, a web-based VP training study on herpes simplex infection and recurrent aphthous stomatitis found an improved learning in dental students. 25 The learning platforms can also offer the possibility of case-based discussions. Besides chat discussion, live discussions are allowed, as well as sharing clinical, imaging and/or histopathological images.…”

E-Learning in Dental Schools in the Times of COVID-19: A Review and Analysis of an Educational Resource in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…First, e-learning is a reality in many DSs, with an increasing popularity in the last few years (41,44,48,38). Second, the alumni accepted e-learning strategies as part of their curricula, and many reports identified several benefits after its implementation (27,28,30,(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(45)(46)(47)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57). Third, e-learning represents a point of debate within academics since some disciplines consider its application as valuable as the traditional teaching methods, while others considered it only as a good complement (29,42,44,50,53,58).…”