Evaluating a virtual simulation chatbot to improve communication for radiation therapy students: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiotherapy
• Virtual Reality Simulation

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial in radiotherapy for patient understanding and cooperation.
• Traditional training methods often fall short, limiting students' practical experience.
• A gap exists in providing realistic communication skill development opportunities for radiotherapy students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate SCIMORT, an immersive virtual simulation chatbot for radiotherapy communication training.
• To assess user acceptance and engagement with the SCIMORT prototype among students.
• To identify areas for improvement in virtual simulation for medical education.

Main Methods:

• Development of a 3D virtual patient chatbot (SCIMORT) with voice and visual cues using Blender and Bot Libre.
• Pilot study involving a survey administered to 28 radiotherapy students (novice and experienced).
• Statistical analysis of user acceptance and engagement scores, including comparison between novice and experienced groups.

Main Results:

• High acceptance (Novice: 3.919 ± 1.245, Experienced: 3.953 ± 1.114) and engagement (Novice: 3.526 ± 1.270, Experienced: 3.568 ± 1.142) scores were reported by both groups.
• Students found SCIMORT provided a realistic overview of the clinical environment, with high agreement on its acceptability for communication skill training.
• No significant differences in acceptance or engagement were found between novice and experienced student groups (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

• SCIMORT shows significant potential as an accessible tool for enhancing radiotherapy students' communication skills.
• The virtual simulation was generally well-accepted and engaging, validating its utility in medical education.
• Future iterations should focus on improving interactivity, personalized feedback, and integrating VR for enhanced realism and learning outcomes.