Virtual patients as a tool for training pre-registration pharmacists and increasing their preparedness to practice: A qualitative study

Abstract

Virtual patients are an active learning pedagogical tool which simulate clinical scenarios in a three-dimensional environment. Their use in pharmacy education is under-researched in comparison to other healthcare professions. In the United Kingdom, pre-registration training refers to a year of workplace based training which pharmacy graduates must complete prior to professional registration as pharmacists. This study aimed to evaluate preregistration pharmacists' perceptions on the integration, usefulness and enjoyment of completing virtual patient simulations or non-interactive case studies as part of their training. Pre-registration trainees completed three virtual patient simulations or three noninteractive case studies on the topics of: emergency hormonal contraception, renal function and childhood illnesses. Telephone interviews were conducted with twenty pre-registration pharmacists, exploring their perspectives on the use of the virtual patient or noninteractive case studies. Data was analysed using the five-stage framework approach. Four main themes emerged from the data: case study design; usefulness of the case studies as a training tool; support in pre-registration training; utility of the learning tools. Trainees also identified technical issues they had experienced while completing the virtual patient simulations, specifically with keyword recognition. Pre-registration trainees who used the virtual patients provided comments relating to the novelty, realism and enjoyment in completing them. Trainees in both groups reported developing knowledge and skills from completing the case studies; those who used the virtual patient commented on the development of communication skills and an increase in confidence for practice and those who used the non-interactive cases focused on knowledge acquisition and numeracy. Participants were enthusiastic about virtual patients as a novel training tool which provided an opportunity for learners to practice realistic scenarios in a safe environment. Virtual patients offer the potential to 'bridge the gap' in pharmacist pre-registration sectorrelated training variation, promote learning through reflection on doing and increase overall preparedness for practice.

Exploring transformative learning for trainee pharmacists through interprofessional simulation: a constructivist interview study

“…Most pre-registration pharmacists working in Scotland are graduates of one of the two Scottish pharmacy schools located at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow [ 31 ] and Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen [ 32 ]. At the time of this study, neither university course incorporated any immersive simulation training in their curricula, although such training exists elsewhere [ 33 , 34 ]. At the time of recruitment, the pre-registration pharmacists were about half way through their pre-registration year and would all have shadowed specialist pharmacists in various areas of their respective hospitals (including some acute settings), but would be directly supervised and would not have been given sole responsibility for patients.…”

Research on Configuration Framework of Simulation Rules Based on Existing Simulation Teaching Platform

“…Virtual simulation has been proved to be conducive to the understanding of theoretical knowledge, and can enhance the cognition of enterprises. In 2008, Hancock and others defined virtual simulation as a simulation that injects people into the virtual core role through enabling, decisionmaking, communication and other aspects [12]. Therefore, virtual simulation can help students to understand the complexity and uncertainty of enterprise.…”

“…Simulation teaching in medical care is particularly important after COVID-19 [13]. In addition to the construction of medical nursing virtual environment, in order to enhance students' cognition of medical and nursing knowledge, more and more researches on the simulation of patients' feelings [12]. Ability teaching is to form relevant consciousness or idea through virtual simulation teaching, so as to establish the ability to solve related problems.…”

Computer-Based Simulators in Pharmacy Practice Education: A Systematic Narrative Review

“…It can be used as both a learning and practical assessment tool [ 10 ]. When compared to traditional instructional design, CBS stands out as a more scalable, accessible and cost-efficient educational tool, that offers a standardised experience for pharmacy students [ 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”