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Psychological characteristics of students in learning clinical interview skills with the use of virtual patient.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The goal of this exploratory study is to analyse which psychological characteristics of students are related to the effectiveness of learning clinical interview skills with the use of a virtual patient (VP). METHODS:The sample consisted of 29 final-year clinical psychology students. The authors' VP tool was used for measuring and teaching clinical interview skills: building contact with the patient, gathering important information, and identifying the students' mistakes. Psychological questionnaires were used to measure the students' psychological features: need for cognitive closure, ability to achieve cognitive structure, beliefs in the changeability of human traits, level of hope, intelligence, positive vs negative affect, and academic knowledge. RESULTS:The most important aspect of the diagnostician's psychological features which substantially influence effectiveness of learning interview skills is belief in the stability or changeability of human traits and the need to achieve cognitive closure. Participants who have a belief in human changeability are able to perform the task correctly even without training, while those who believe in human stability improve only slightly with training. Students with lower need of cognitive closure successfully learned to build a good relation with the patient. CONCLUSIONS:The study allows a better understanding of the phenomena occurring during the learning of clinical interview skills with the use of a VP.

SUBMITTER: Zalewski B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7672874 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Psychological characteristics of students in learning clinical interview skills with the use of virtual patient.

Zalewski Bartosz B Walkiewicz Maciej M Guziak Mateusz M

BMC medical education 20201117 1

<h4>Background</h4>The goal of this exploratory study is to analyse which psychological characteristics of students are related to the effectiveness of learning clinical interview skills with the use of a virtual patient (VP).<h4>Methods</h4>The sample consisted of 29 final-year clinical psychology students. The authors' VP tool was used for measuring and teaching clinical interview skills: building contact with the patient, gathering important information, and identifying the students' mistakes ...[more]

PMID: 33203422

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Project description:ObjectivesInterprofessional education is important for increasing the quality of patient care, but organising it in primary healthcare is still challenging. The aim of this study was to develop and assess a virtual patient model for primary healthcare and to investigate students' perceptions of learning with this interprofessional virtual patient model.MethodsThe virtual patient case described a patient with several medical conditions who had returned home after surgery. The virtual patient included text files, short videos, and links to illustrate different health professions' roles in home care. Ten interprofessional groups with 39 students assessed the virtual patient from four different study programmes: nursing, physiotherapy, medicine, and occupational therapy. The students answered a questionnaire about how they perceived the usability of the virtual patient and participated in group interviews. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data from the semi-structured group interviews.ResultsThe analysis of the interviews resulted in four main categories: The virtual patient model facilitated the learning process; It was beneficial to have students from different programmes in the group when working with the virtual patient; Working with the virtual patient helped the students to understand the roles and competencies of their own and other professions and All professions are needed in clinical work in order to help the patient. The students perceived that the mixture of text and multimedia made the virtual patient seem authentic and stimulated their group discussions, which they valued most. The students gave generally high points for usability in the questionnaire, but they also gave input for improvement of the program in their comments.ConclusionsThe interprofessional virtual patient model facilitated interactions and discussions between students and may be a useful complement for interprofessional education in clinical contexts and might be a suitable tool in preparing students for future teamwork.

Project description:BackgroundDigital games-based learning is a method of using digital games to impart knowledge. Virtual reality (VR) programs are a practical application of this method. Due to demographic changes, the nursing profession will become increasingly important. These VR applications can be of use in training nurses for future professional challenges they may encounter. The continuous development of VR applications enables trainees to encounter simulated real life effectively and to experience increasingly concrete situations. This can be of great importance in nursing education, since 3-dimensionality enables a better visualization of many fields of activity and can prevent potential future errors. In addition to this learning effect, VR applications also bring an element of fun to learning.ObjectiveThe aim of this qualitative research effort is to observe the degree of acceptance of VR applications by nursing students in Germany. Various factors, including social influences, performance expectations, and effort expectations, are taken into consideration.MethodsWith a qualitative cohort study, the acceptance of nursing students towards VR applications in anatomy teaching was determined. The 12 participants were first asked to fill out a quantitative questionnaire on their sociodemographic characteristics and the extent to which they valued and liked using technology. The participants were then allowed to test the VR application themselves and were finally asked about their experience in a qualitative interview. For the collection of data and the analysis of results, the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology was used in this study.ResultsOverall, the study shows that the interviewed persons rated the VR application quite positively. The greatest influence in this was the personal attitude towards technology; the higher this affinity is, the more useful the VR application appears. Social influences can also increase the participant's own acceptance if peers have a positive attitude towards such applications. The study shows that the trainees' motivation to learn was increased by using VR. We believe this is because each trainee could learn individually and the VR application was perceived as an enjoyable activity. Nevertheless, the cost factor of implementing VR applications in nursing training is currently still an obstacle, as not every institution has such financial capacities.ConclusionsThe extent to which the use of VR applications in the training of nursing staff is justified depends on the degree of personal acceptance. The collected results give good practice-oriented insight into the attitude of trainees towards VR. Many of the interviewed persons saw benefits in the use of VR technologies. As VR applications are constantly developing, it is necessary to conduct further studies on VR applications in nursing education and to include other possible disciplines in which these applications can be helpful.

Project description:BackgroundImproving clinical reasoning skills-the thought processes used by clinicians to formulate appropriate questions and diagnoses-is essential for reducing missed diagnostic opportunities. The electronic Clinical Reasoning Educational Simulation Tool (eCREST) was developed to improve the clinical reasoning of future physicians. A feasibility trial demonstrated acceptability and potential impacts; however, the processes by which students gathered data were unknown.ObjectiveThis study aims to identify the data gathering patterns of final year medical students while using eCREST and how eCREST influences the patterns.MethodsA mixed methods design was used. A trial of eCREST across 3 UK medical schools (N=148) measured the potential effects of eCREST on data gathering. A qualitative think-aloud and semistructured interview study with 16 medical students from one medical school identified 3 data gathering strategies: Thorough, Focused, and Succinct. Some had no strategy. Reanalysis of the trial data identified the prevalence of data gathering patterns and compared patterns between the intervention and control groups. Patterns were identified based on 2 variables that were measured in a patient case 1 month after the intervention: the proportion of Essential information students identified and the proportion of irrelevant information gathered (Relevant). Those who scored in the top 3 quartiles for Essential but in the lowest quartile for Relevant displayed a Thorough pattern. Those who scored in the top 3 quartiles for Relevant but in the lowest quartile for Essential displayed a Succinct pattern. Those who scored in the top 3 quartiles on both variables displayed a Focused pattern. Those whose scores were in the lowest quartile on both variables displayed a Nonspecific pattern.ResultsThe trial results indicated that students in the intervention group were more thorough than those in the control groups when gathering data. The qualitative data identified data gathering strategies and the mechanisms by which eCREST influenced data gathering. Students reported that eCREST promoted thoroughness by prompting them to continuously reflect and allowing them to practice managing uncertainty. However, some found eCREST to be less useful, and they randomly gathered information. Reanalysis of the trial data revealed that the intervention group was significantly more likely to display a Thorough data gathering pattern than controls (21/78, 27% vs 6/70, 9%) and less likely to display a Succinct pattern (13/78, 17% vs 20/70, 29%; χ23=9.9; P=.02). Other patterns were similar across groups.ConclusionsQualitative data suggested that students applied a range of data gathering strategies while using eCREST and that eCREST encouraged thoroughness by continuously prompting the students to reflect and manage their uncertainty. Trial data suggested that eCREST led students to demonstrate more Thorough data gathering patterns. Virtual patients that encourage thoroughness could help future physicians avoid missed diagnostic opportunities and enhance the delivery of clinical reasoning teaching.

Project description:BackgroundIt is useful to advance simulated patient (SP) participation in teaching to improve the communication skills of medical students, so this study aims to explore the current state of Chinese mainland SP education.MethodsA cross sectional survey was designed utilizing well defined quantitative research methods and descriptive statistics. The questionnaire sought information which elucidated the current status of SP-based education, the origin of SP-based learning, SP training, challenges of this learning strategy and future developments. Questionnaires were distributed to 79 medical colleges in mainland China, and 68 were returned. Of these, 64 constituted valid responses (81%).ResultsThe number of SP-based education activities in medical colleges offering 5-year、7-year and 8-year clinical medicine programs was significantly higher than that in medical colleges which offered only a single 5-year program (p < 0.01). Communication skills training accounted for 73% of the content of SP-based learning activities, and was expected to rise in the future to 90%, in response to a need to improve doctor-patient relationships. Persons recruited as 'simulated patients' included students (21% of the total), residents (49%), medical staff (15%) and teaching staff (14%). Colleges, planning a SP-based education program, preferred teachers (80%) and students (55%) to assume 'simulated patient' roles. In objective structured clinical education (OSCE) scenarios, co-scoring by both SPs and teachers featured more highly in the 'consultation' station and 'doctor-patient communication' station. A number of factors were identified as hindering future development and implementation of SP-based learning including budget restraints, SP selection and training.ConclusionsSP-based learning programs offer clear benefits for improving the clinical education of medical students and their communication skills. The main obstacles to achieving more widespread and higher quality SP-based education are insufficient funding and the lack of standardized training and performance evaluation processes for simulated patients. Medical colleges should consider reducing the proportion of students and teachers acting as SPs, and attract more citizens to participate in SP-based learning activities. Formalised training and evaluation of SPs performance are necessary to establish a 'standard simulated patient' for a particular medical discipline, thus improving SP-based activities and student learning.

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Psychological characteristics of students in learning clinical interview skills with the use of virtual patient.

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Psychological characteristics of students in learning clinical interview skills with the use of virtual patient.

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