Virtual patients for assessing medical students–important aspects when considering the introduction of a new assessment format

Abstract

Although a direct comparison of written course exams and dealing with virtual patients is difficult in many aspects and the study setting as an exam simulation caused confounders, this new assessment format is supported by many aspects of validity evidence. Solving virtual clinical scenarios addresses other abilities, skills and knowledge than traditional written exams and since "assessment drives learning" it could have positive implications on teaching and learning alike.

Virtual Patients for assessment of medical student ability to integrate clinical and laboratory data to develop differential diagnoses: Comparison of results of exams with/without time constraints

“…Previous studies utilizing VPs for student ability assessment emphasized this essential condition (Courteille et al 2008;Waldmann et al 2008). …”

“…The use of VPs for assessment is a more recent application and has been described as a possible way to assess clinical reasoning and/or clinical decision-making abilities among students (Courteille et al 2008;Waldmann et al 2008;Gesundheit et al 2009;Round et al 2009;Botezatu et al 2010a, b;Forsberg et al 2010 (Brooks et al 2003) has emphasized that average raw scores of students tested under both timed and untimed conditions vary less than one raw score point. A more recent publication (Lee & Chen 2011) relates that most educational assessments are designed to measure knowledge ( power tests), are usually administered with time constraints, and before the application of computer-based assessment, it was extremely difficult to evaluate cognitive ability.…”

“…Those studies reported that the use of VPs was suitable for assessment (Waldmann et al 2008;Round et al 2010;Botezatu et al 2010a, b). Furthermore, those studies did not indicate the time allotted for the exams.…”

Virtual Patients as a Practical Realisation of the E-learning Idea in Medicine

“…At the University of Ulm an online assessment tool (OAT) on the basis of the virtual polyclinic "Docs´n drugs" was developed including three clinical scenarios implemented for an assessment study. They found a moderate correlation with written exams (r=0.36) and a higher correlation between the three scenarios (r=0.50-0.56) (Waldmann et al, 2008).…”

Twelve Tips for Utilizing Virtual Patients to Teach Professionalism

“…Virtual patients can provide an effective tool for the both formative and summative assessment of professional competency (Cook & Triola, 2009;McEvoy et al, 2012;Huwendiek et al, 2013;Waldmann et al, 2008). Formative assessment can help identify learning needs (Posel et al, 2014), while summative assessment can ensure students are meeting "professionalism milestones" in a competency based curriculum.…”