The Effect of Constructing Virtual Patient Cases

Rigshospitalet

Status: Completed

Conditions: Healthy

Treatments: Other: Solving VP cases; Other: Constructing VP cases

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02400606

H-1-2013-FSP-6

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of the study was to explore the effect of actively constructing Virtual patient (VP) cases compared with solving VP cases using 'Web-SP', Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden on knowledge gains and skills transfer in a group of pre-clerkship medical students.

Full description

Solving VP cases is associated with large improvements in learning but its effectiveness is dependent on active student involvement. Constructing VP cases rather than solving them may engage students more actively in encoding new information and integrating it with previous knowledge.

Fourth-year medical students were included and randomized to constructing (intervention) or solving (control) four cardiopulmonary VP cases. The participants were presented with a short case overview. The control group solved the cases, whereas the intervention group also received the final diagnosis and had to complete the history, physical findings, and lab results. After a week, participants completed a transfer test involving two standardized patients presenting a respiratory case and a cardiology case, respectively. Performances were video-recorded and subsequently assessed by two blinded raters using the Reporter-Interpreter- Manager-Educator (RIME) framework. Knowledge gains were assessed using a pre- and post-test of a 95-item Multiple-Response-Questionnaire (MRQ).

Enrollment: 39 patients

Sex: All

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• fourth-year medical students, University of Copenhagen
• pre-study participation in the mandatory patient encounter skills course

Exclusion criteria

• medical students who had taken the three pre-clerkship years at other universities, because of curriculum discrepancies

Trial design

39 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

The intervention group were presented with a short case overview introducing four cardiopulmonary VP cases as well as the final diagnosis and had to complete the history, physical findings, and lab results, i.e. constructing VP cases.

Treatment:

Other: Constructing VP cases

Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

The participants were presented with a short case overview introducing four cardiopulmonary VP cases to be solved, i.e. solving VP cases.

Treatment:

Other: Solving VP cases