Enhancing clinical reasoning in medical students: A novel pedagogical approach integrating a virtual patient platform...

Medicine is highly practical, and requires strong clinical skills. Evolving medical models and greater patient awareness have intensified doctor-patient tensions, while increasing the number of students has strained clinical training resources. Innovative approaches, such as virtual patient simulations, are essential for enhancing medical education. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 114 clinical medical students from Zhejiang University. The participants were divided into a reform group (n = 50), taught using the DxR-Clinician platform and mind mapping, and a conventional group (n = 64), taught traditionally. Assessments and questionnaires were used to compare engagement and clinical reasoning. The reform group showed significantly improved student engagement (89.87% vs 39.06%, P < .001) and overall clinical competence (87.67% vs 50.28%, P < .001). However, 81.4% reported increased workload, and 73% perceived insufficient class time. The subjective learning outcomes also improved significantly (P < .05). Virtual patient simulations combined with mind mapping improve clinical reasoning and engagement. Optimizing the workload and time allocation is necessary for wider implementation. Further studies should explore these applications in other educational contexts.