An interactive patient simulation for the study of medical decision-making

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Decision Support
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Medical decision-making is complex and requires effective training tools.
• Assessing the validity of simulation models in medical education is crucial.
• Understanding specialty-specific decision-making can improve patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an interactive patient simulation for medical decision-making.
• To assess the realism and construct validity of the simulation.
• To determine if specialist physicians and family doctors exhibit distinct decision-making patterns.

Main Methods:

• Developed a flexible question-and-answer patient simulation allowing multiple interactions (up to five).
• Tested the simulation with 16 family doctors and 16 specialist physicians.
• Evaluated realism through participant scores and construct validity by comparing decision-making patterns between groups.

Main Results:

• The simulation received highly favorable realism scores from both doctor groups.
• Construct validity was confirmed for specialist physicians, showing distinct and homogeneous decision-making.
• The hypothesis of distinct and homogeneous decision-making was not confirmed for family doctors.

Conclusions:

• The interactive patient simulation is a realistic tool for studying medical decision-making.
• The simulation effectively differentiates decision-making patterns in specialist physicians.
• Further refinement may be needed to capture the nuances of family doctors' decision-making processes.