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Virtual trauma patient simulation design using the McGill Simulation Complexity Score (MSCS): a breakthrough in
Melina Deban1, Sameena Iqbal1, Andrew Beckett1
1From the Departments of Surgery (Deban, Beckett, Razek, Khwaja), Critical Care Medicine (Khwaja) and Nephrology (Iqbal), McGill University Health Centre; Faculty of Medicine Molson Informatics Unit (Posel, Fleiszer), McGill University, Montréal, Que.
Virtual patient simulations effectively assess medical trainee performance. The McGill Simulation Complexity Score (MSCS) accurately quantifies scenario difficulty, with performance decreasing as complexity increases.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Simulation Technology
- Trauma Care Training
Background:
- Virtual patient simulations are interactive, computer-based cases.
- Scenarios were designed using the McGill Simulation Complexity Score (MSCS).
- The study aimed to validate the MSCS and introduce a novel trauma education tool.
Purpose of the Study:
- Establish validity of the MSCS for virtual patient scenarios.
- Introduce a novel learning tool in trauma education.
- Assess the impact of scenario complexity and training level on performance.
Main Methods:
- Designed easy (MSCS=3) and difficult (MSCS=18) virtual patient scenarios.
- Randomized medical students and residents to perform one of the two scenarios.
- Conducted a 2-way ANOVA to analyze effects on virtual time, steps, beneficial/harmful actions, and their ratio.
Main Results:
- Virtual patient scenarios were successfully designed using the MSCS.
- Performance varied significantly with scenario complexity and training level.
- Medical students performed more harmful actions, especially in difficult scenarios, leading to patient deaths.
Conclusions:
- The MSCS is a valid tool for quantifying virtual patient scenario difficulty.
- The MSCS can be successfully applied to design virtual patient scenarios for trauma education.
- Performance in virtual patient simulations is influenced by both scenario complexity and trainee experience level.
