Medical Students' Learning About Other Professions Using an Interprofessional Virtual Patient While Remotely...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education
• Digital Health

Background:

• Interprofessional collaboration is crucial for healthcare, yet its integration into education remains challenging.
• Distance learning and virtual patients (VPs) offer potential solutions to enhance interprofessional learning opportunities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate if an interprofessional VP case could improve medical students' understanding of team collaboration in online groups.
• To explore students' experiences learning with VPs in a remote group setting.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods design was employed, utilizing a virtual patient case of a hip fracture patient.
• Students completed pre- and post-session questionnaires and participated in qualitative group interviews.
• Interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Main Results:

• The interprofessional VP fostered student interaction and provided insights into team collaboration.
• The VP's structure facilitated learning, and students found remote collaboration effective.
• Questionnaires revealed increased student understanding of other healthcare professions' roles and competencies.

Conclusions:

• Interprofessional VPs can enhance team collaboration insights and interprofessional understanding among medical students.
• This virtual patient approach appears beneficial for online, remote medical education.
• The study suggests VPs contribute to interprofessional learning, even if not a formal interprofessional education activity.