International Research Studies

Conclusions

COVID-19 lockdowns presented itself as a major challenge to clinical education, and doctors-to-be final evaluation was no exception.
Body Interact provided a strategy to: assess clinical reasoning in a remote way; evaluate decision-making skills based on theoretical, scientific, epidemiological, and clinical knowledge; promoted feedback on actions.

Conclusions

This study concluded that blended simulation-based education can increase nursing students’ critical thinking capabilities. As a result, this study builds on the use of simulation as a measure for developing and promoting critical thinking abilities during nursing education.

Conclusions

During the lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anáhuac developed a Virtual Hospital to provide students with clinical experience. Data from both pre-COVID-19 and Virtual Hospital rotations were compared and it was found that: training in a virtual hospital helped students not to lose their clinical ability; performing communication and general clinical skills can be maintained by the work done in rotations in the Virtual Hospital; combining VP with simulated patients boosted the communication skills development and promoted the development of both clinical reasoning and clinical gestures.

Conclusions

The University’s experience in using the simulation interactive training system – Body Interact – allowed them to confirm the prospects of its use in interns’ certification. Its advantages include the possibility of task standardization; time limitation for solving the clinical situation; as well as having criteria for evaluating test results with detailed step-by-step reports.
The pilot experience of applying this system for interns’ certification can be expanded and used as the Structured Objective Clinical Examination (OSCE) stage for sixth-year students.

Conclusions

Virtual Patient Simulation (VPS) was indicated as superior to other methods in terms of nursing anxiety and self-confidence with clinical decision-making, and all the simulation-based learning and performance scores. When combining it with Human Patient Simulation, effectiveness was proved on the professional knowledge and communication sub-scales and the total score for simulation-based learning.
VPS can either be used as an online learning method or as an in-person strategy. Always promoting and highlighting its benefits towards patient safety.

Conclusions

Participants included 617 nursing and medical students from 11 institutions in 8 countries. At baseline, nursing students reported greater curricular integration and more clinical and simulation experience than did medical students. After exposure to small-group VPS training, participants reported significant improvements in 5/6 items relating to individual learning process and 7/7 items relating to curricular integration. The impact of the VPS experience was similar amongst nursing and medical students.
In this multi-centre study, perceptions of individual learning process and curricular integration improved after exposure to small-group VPS training. Nursing and medical students showed similar impact. Small-group VPS training is an accessible, low-risk educational strategy that can improve student perceptions of individual learning process and curricular integration

Conclusions

Previous studies have shown the pedagogical benefits of using virtual patient simulation (VPS), but there are no studies using simulators and VPS together, making learner satisfaction and learning effectiveness unknown.
This study investigated the satisfaction level of the educational program using both resources, concluding that education combining a simulator and VPS can facilitate the process from examination to diagnosis, and afford a high satisfaction level.

Conclusions

The researchers aimed to study the use of remote simulation and remote debriefing as a means to promote clinical reasoning in 6th-year medical students. A cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted, and participants stated that the scenarios implemented in a remote way helped them to improve their capacity to clinically assess patients and make clinical decisions.
100% of students rated levels 5 and 4 to Body Interact as a relevant tool for individual learning and useful for theoretical classes.

Conclusions

This research aimed to explore the perspectives of students regarding the way in which a selection of digital learning resources (virtual patients, massive open online courses, and multimedia learning material) supports basic physical assessment skills development.
The set of learning tools used contributed to stimulating learning in 7 different ways and supports skills training and knowledge transfer between multiple learning contexts.

Note: Although the name of Body Interact is not mentioned in the research, solely the concept of virtual patients, and virtual patients’ scenarios, the authors confirmed that the software used in the study was Body Interact.

Conclusions

This study offers insight into how a technology-enhanced clinical course can foster the learning of fundamental nursing care, basic physical assessment skills, and clinical reasoning skills; enhancing students’ preparedness for clinical hours. Virtual patients’ scenarios contributed to integrating different types of knowledge and skills that are important when providing nursing care for patients in clinical practice. This study also highlighted a gap in pedagogical competence among faculty members with regard to facilitating learning in a technology-enhanced learning environment.

Note: Although the name of Body Interact is not mentioned in the research, solely the concept of virtual patients, and virtual patients’ scenarios, the authors confirmed that the software used in the study was Body Interact.

Conclusions

This article believes that the application of 3D virtual human-computer interaction teaching mode in clinical thinking training teaching in higher vocational colleges is the trend of clinical thinking teaching reform and development. Aiming at the development needs of the current situation of clinical thinking teaching mode for clinical medical students in higher vocational colleges, from the establishment of teaching teams, The establishment and application process of 3D virtual reality human-computer interaction technology teaching mode is discussed in three aspects: creating teaching mode and developing clinical thinking case, and provides reference for the teaching of clinical thinking ability of higher vocational medical students.

Conclusions

Virtual Patients are crosswise used as a valid tool to develop and train clinical reasoning and decision-making skills, both in Medicine and Nursing curriculums. Features and uses regarding the use of this type of simulation can be defined to foster the educational benefit, since a set of conditions, both in terms of quality and quantity, have been identified through students’ perceptions.

Conclusions

The mean final score of the participants was higher with the VIP compared to the MCQ.
Our investigation is favorable to the use of the VIP for the evaluation process of medical students in clinical years. A systematic review points out that the VIP proves to be more effective in improving clinical skills and knowledge.

Conclusions

During the outbreaking phase, it may be hard for medical school students to learn COVID-19 cases in a clinical setting. Teikyo University provided a case of hybrid-simulation training for medical school students about these cases during the outbreak phase in Tokyo. In conclusion, the Community-Based Medical Education curriculum enabled medical students to understand the social determinants of health framework to some extent. Further work is needed to deepen their levels of reflection.

Conclusions

The authors suggest that Virtual Patients appear to be a promising strategy for lifelong learning in the nursing context, having reached the following outcomes:

• Nurses rated highly the perceived ease of use, usefulness, and intention to use in lifelong learning of Virtual Patients.
• Nurses pointed out Virtual Patients as highly relevant and as having a role as a facilitator in lifelong learning in nursing.

Conclusions

ECare-COPD learning program showed usefulness and nurses’ intention to use this educational strategy in future and high average rates of perceived easiness and global quality. The MOOCs development opens a new era of opportunities for nursing education and to lifelong learning in nursing, enhancing safety and quality of the healthcare services in supporting patients to achieve a better quality of life.

Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto

Portugal

Conclusions

Students using Body Interact had significantly better outcomes in knowledge retention, clinical reasoning, and learning satisfaction than students in a control group who use a traditional low-fidelity simulator, both immediately but also two months after the intervention.
This study highlights the potential benefit of using virtual simulations over low-fidelity physical simulations.

George Brown College

Canada

Conclusions

• This emerging technology, although not intended to replace human patient simulation, shows promise in enabling easier, more self-directed access to simulation for students.

Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto

Portugal

Conclusions

• The pregraduate nursing students revealed perceived ease, usefulness, and intention to use Clinical Virtual Simulation as an important complementary strategy for their nursing education programmes.
• The results showed an average of perceived ease to use the simulator of 8.99, and a perceived usefulness and intention of 9.60. Results also showed an average of 9.55 for relevance and 9.71 points for the facilitator role of CVS in nursing education.

Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine

United States of America

Conclusions

• Clinical virtual simulation raises the level of satisfaction with the learning experience among medical students.
• Indications that the cases were better to complete as a team and the Body Interact group table was useful for teaching in a group setting suggest utility in completing the cases with the aid of others.
• This prepares students for the transition from classroom education to learning within various healthcare roles when performing real patient care.

Cleveland Clinic

United States of America

Conclusions

• We successfully incorporated a VP platform into the nephrology educational curriculum.
• The Body Interact program was well received and was found to be a useful education adjunct.