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The use of a virtual patient case in an OSCE-based exam--a pilot study
O Courteille1, R Bergin, D Stockeld
1Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Medical Teacher
|May 20, 2008
Summary
Virtual patients (VP) show promise for assessing medical students' clinical reasoning skills. However, training and standardized protocols are crucial for reliable evaluation in high-stakes exams.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Health Professions Education
- Clinical Skills Assessment
Background:
- 118 fourth-year medical students participated in a 12-module Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).
- One module utilized a virtual patient (VP) system (ISP) to assess history taking, lab tests, physical exams, and diagnosis formulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- Evaluate VP as a tool for assessing medical students' clinical reasoning and problem-solving abilities.
- Investigate the VP's realism and its impact on student confidence.
Main Methods:
- Observed and analyzed student reactions, engagement, and performance using activity logs.
- Analyzed videotaped interactions between students and human assistants, correlating with outcomes.
Main Results:
- VP systems can reliably differentiate student performance.
- Identified weaknesses include confounding influences from human assistants and variations in affective responses and perceived assistance usefulness.
Conclusions:
- Prior training on VP assessment tools is essential for students.
- Standardized protocols and validated scoring rubrics are needed for VP implementation.
- Limit human assistants and automate scoring for high-stakes VP assessments.
