Web-Based AI-Driven Virtual Patient Simulator Versus Actor-Based Simulation for Teaching Consultation Skills:...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Technology
• Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
• Communication Skills Training

Background:

• Global healthcare demands necessitate increased training capacity by 2030.
• Effective communication is critical for patient safety and care quality.
• Evidence for AI-driven virtual patient simulators in communication training is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare AI-driven virtual patient simulators with traditional actor-based simulations for medical students.
• To assess differences in self-rated communication skills, student satisfaction, and costs.
• To evaluate the potential of AI for enhancing healthcare professional training.

Main Methods:

• An open-label randomized crossover study compared AI-driven communication skills training (AI-CST) with actor-based consultation skills training (AB-CST).
• Undergraduate medical students from two UK institutions participated.
• Pre-post intervention surveys measured self-reported communication skills and satisfaction; cost analysis was performed.

Main Results:

• Both AI-CST and AB-CST significantly improved self-reported communication skills (P<.001).
• Actor-based simulation led to a greater increase in skills attainment (mean difference 0.36, P=.04).
• Student satisfaction was higher with AB-CST (9.21 vs 8.09, P<.001), but AI-CST was significantly cheaper (£33.48 vs £61.75 per student).

Conclusions:

• AI-driven and actor-based simulations both enhance communication skills, with actor-based methods showing slightly superior outcomes.
• AI-CST presents a substantially more cost-effective alternative for scalable training.
• AI-CST holds promise for cost-effectively increasing healthcare professional training capacity.