Efficacy of virtual patients in medical education: A meta-analysis of randomized studies

Consorti, Fabrizio; Mancuso, Rosaria; Nocioni, Martina; Piccolo, Annalisa

doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.04.017

Cited by 152 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…19 Virtual patient use in the medical field has shown variations in effectiveness potentially dependent on educational design, desired outcomes, time allotted, and the number of VPAs completed. 7 We are the first to use the Qualtrics survey software as a framework for VPAs. 5 The use of Qualtrics, with branched-outcome logic and data collection capabilities, allowed for more complex scenarios and facilitated active student learning in higher levels of the Bloom's taxonomy cognitive learning domain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6 There is much variability in the virtual patient scenario design and multimedia system capabilities, which can impact the effectiveness of the teaching method. 6,7 Overall in health science education, virtual patients have made a positive impact on learning compared to no intervention, but the effects in comparison to other instructional methods were small and effects may depend on the type of virtual patients used. 8 In pharmacy education, computer-aided instruction tools, mannequin-based patient simulations, and virtual patient simulations have been used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 Analyses of virtual patient use in pharmacy schools have usually compared before and after knowledge assessments while comparisons to paper-based scenarios or other teaching methods have also not been done or did not show significant differences. [9][10][11][12] The majority of virtual patient publications in the pharmacy and other healthcare fields have involved adult patient scenarios, [5][6][7] but pediatric patients have unique medication-related needs that would impact the creation and implementation of virtual patients for pharmacy education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[13][14][15] Yet, most published studies in medical education and all in pharmacy education have not analyzed the impact of repeated attempts of unique virtual patient scenarios on student learning. 5,7 Additionally, all virtual patient scenarios in pharmacy education utilizing branched-outcome decision-making were based on adult patients. 5 Thus, assessment of repeated attempts of pediatric virtual patients with branched-outcome decision-making and multiple scenarios is needed in pharmacy education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Virtual Pediatric Patient Activities With Randomized Scenarios as an Instructional Tool for Pharmacy Students

Stultz

Forder

Pakyz

2017

The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics

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OBJECTIVESTo assess student pharmacist best activity scores and related exam question performance based on the number of pediatric virtual patient activity (VPA) attempts.METHODS A 40-point asthma VPA was implemented and included three possible randomized scenarios. A 60-point meningitis VPA was implemented and included three possible randomized scenarios followed by an additional three possible randomized scenarios only if the first scenario was correctly completed. Points were awarded in the VPA based on appropriateness of treatment decisions. Students were allowed unlimited VPA attempts individually and as a group in class. Three exam questions were based on a fourth scenario of each randomized portion of the VPAs. The Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test, and T-test were used for statistical comparisons when appropriate. RESULTSOf 132 students, median individual best asthma VPA scores were 15.25, 22, and 30 for those with 1, 2, and ≥3 asthma attempts, respectively (p < 0.001). Median individual best meningitis VPA scores were 4, 5, 7, and 45.5 for those with 1, 2, 3 to 4, and ≥5 attempts, respectively (p < 0.001). Median number of group VPA attempts was higher among students who correctly answered the exam question related to the first randomized meningitis scenario (10 versus 4, p = 0.015), although no differences in attempts were found for the other related questions (all p > 0.05).CONCLUSIONS Students who completed the VPAs more times achieved greater individual best scores. Students who correctly answered related exam questions had a higher number of group VPA attempts only when continuation of the VPA required correct randomized scenario completion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Virtual Pediatric Patient Activities With Randomized Scenarios as an Instructional Tool for Pharmacy Students

Stultz

Forder

Pakyz

2017

The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics

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“…Although there is evidence about the effectiveness of training clinical reasoning skills by the VPs [14], VPs "play only one part in the development of skilled health professionals" and coordination with other instructional activities is suggested [13]; positive effects have been reported when VPs are used as an additive resource or as an alternative to traditional methods [14].…”

Section: Virtual Patientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond xMOOCs in Healthcare Education: Study of the Feasibility in Integrating Virtual Patient Systems and MOOC platforms

Stathakarou

Zary

Kononowicz

2014

Preprint

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Background: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are an emerging method of online teaching. However in the field of healthcare education their technology is not adopted yet. Reaching beyond the xMOOC type of courses in order to foster interactivity in the healthcare education requires domain specific software. Virtual Patients (VPs) have been integrated in the past with Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) but extending MOOCs with VPs has not yet been discussed. Objective: To investigate the technical possibilities of integrating VPs with MOOCs for the purpose of discovering a pragmatic basis were the potential pedagogical benefits can be later studied. Methods: We selected OpenEdx and Open Labyrinth as examples of a MOOC platform and of a VP system. We conducted a literature review to identify technical requirements and e-learning standards apt for the integration. One fundamental requirement was prototyped and verified by use cases. Results: A Single–Sign on mechanism connecting Open Labyrinth with OpenEdx, employing the IMS LTI standard, has been successfully implemented and verified. Conclusion: We investigated the technical perspective of integrating VPs in MOOCs, aiming to set a base for future investigation on the topic. The results point out new opportunities arising from the infrastructure of MOOCs for integrating specialized software aiming to support the healthcare education.

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Virtual patient simulations for health professional education

Kononowicz

Woodham

Georg

et al. 2016

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

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This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: The objective of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual patient simulation as an educational intervention versus traditional learning, other types of e-Learning interventions and other forms of virtual patient simulation interventions for delivering pre-registration and post-registration healthcare professional education. We will primarily assess the impact of these interventions on learners knowledge, skills and attitudes. Our secondary objective is to assess the cost-effectiveness of these interventions.

Funding Agencies|Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; NTU Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore; Health Services and Outcomes Research (HSOR) National Healthcare Group, Singapore; Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, UK; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) programme for North West London

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Efficacy of virtual patients in medical education: A meta-analysis of randomized studies

Cited by 152 publications

References 54 publications

Virtual Pediatric Patient Activities With Randomized Scenarios as an Instructional Tool for Pharmacy Students

Virtual Pediatric Patient Activities With Randomized Scenarios as an Instructional Tool for Pharmacy Students

Beyond xMOOCs in Healthcare Education: Study of the Feasibility in Integrating Virtual Patient Systems and MOOC platforms

Virtual patient simulations for health professional education

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