From: Virtual patient simulation: what do students make of it? A focus group study
Theme | Category | Main results |
---|---|---|
Learning | Clinical reasoning | -Clinical reasoning development is linked to a stepwise approach to case solving. -Input on factual and core knowledge is welcome as part of the VP "package", especially as feedback. -Holistic view of the patient and closure sense. |
Transferable skills | -Directly to the real patients, especially when the cases used in teaching were created from real life clinical records. -To other types of exam. | |
Retention | Learning with VP enhances retention. | |
Mistakes | -Recognizing and correcting mistakes in a safe environment is crucial for successful learning. - VP mistakes are less prone to be repeated in clinical practice. | |
Teaching | Clinical specialties | -VPS should be used in all major clinical specialties. -Topics: frequent diseases and their complications; topics not included in the study plan and in the clinical rotations; diseases that might be easily missed during a short clinical rotation (due to seasonality or to being endemic in a different geographic area). |
Regulatory effect | -Institutional level: instruction becomes uniform across rotations sites. -Individual level: limiting the availability of the system externally regulates learning. | |
Assessment | Qualitatively different | -...and intrinsically better evaluation tool. -VPS should not be the only assessment form used in a course. Implicit: VPS should be used for course assessment only. -Allow increased retrieval of information in comparison with regular examinations. |
Motivation | VPS can increase motivation for learning. | |
Professional focus | -Assessment and feedback on assessment are perceived as important learning tools. -VP assessment should be relevant for future clinical practice as a general practitioner. | |
Production assessment | -Open questions make students think. -Students favour open questions even if the grades lower. | |
Authenticity | Design and content | -Should reflect the real clinical practice and offer localized menu/content choices. -Might consider including actual costs. -Artificial menus/content options are misleading. |
Localization of the socio-cultural context | Necessary for applications developed in one country and implemented in another. | |
Realism and virtuality | -Real life records thought to make better patient cases than fictitious scenarios. -The knowledge derived from them is directly transferable to real patients. -Strong emphasis on patient photo. -Cases created from real life patient records no longer perceived as "virtual". | |
Feedback | Actual patient evolution and effect of treatment are highly desirable features of feedback, adding to realism. | |
Implementation | Number of cases | More than one case per topic can be necessary for common diseases which are often complicated/have co-morbidities at presentation. Min. 5-6 cases of tropical diseases. |
Access and availability | The availability of the application should be restricted in time. | |
VP exchange | Tropical diseases cases should be exchanged with other HEIs. |