The Effect of Constructing Virtual Patient Cases

NCT02400606 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: H-1-2013-FSP-6
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 39
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The aim of the study was to explore the effect of actively constructing Virtual patient (VP) cases compared with solving VP cases using 'Web-SP', Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden on knowledge gains and skills transfer in a group of pre-clerkship medical students.

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

constructing VPs; knowledge and skills transfer

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Evaluation of the medical students' management of a simulated patient encounter using a RIME-structured scoring form

  The scoring form includes assessment on the roles Reporter, Interpreter, Manager and Educators and has been validated for patient encounters like described below. The requirements for the RIME elements have been defined in with a cardiology professor and a consultant respiratory physician. The medical students are exposed to two encounters with simulated patients after working with the virtual patients on their own. The students will obtain history and perform physical examination from the simulated patient for 15 minutes. The will be provided a journal form that can be quickly filled in, the patient encounter is video recorded. After this they have 20 minutes to write the journal in an electronic format. The video recorded patient encounter and the journal will be assessed by two physicians who have experience in rating medical students performance with the scoring form, the raters are blinded for if the students belong to the intervention arm of the study or not.

  After working with the virtual patient cases for one week +/- 3 days

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Multiple Choice/Answers Questionnaire

  When entering the study and after working with the virtual patient cases for one week +/- 3 days

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention group were presented with a short case overview introducing four cardiopulmonary VP cases as well as the final diagnosis and had to complete the history, physical findings, and lab results, i.e. constructing VP cases.

Other: Constructing VP cases

Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The participants were presented with a short case overview introducing four cardiopulmonary VP cases to be solved, i.e. solving VP cases.

Other: Solving VP cases

Interventions

Constructing VP cases OTHER

The participants were presented with a short case overview. The control group solved the cases, whereas the intervention group also received the final diagnosis and had to complete the history, physical findings, and lab results. After a week, participants completed a transfer test involving two standardized patients presenting a respiratory case and a cardiology case, respectively. Performances were video-recorded and subsequently assessed by two blinded raters using the Reporter-Interpreter- Manager-Educator (RIME) framework. Knowledge gains were assessed using a pre- and post-test of a 95-item Multiple-Response-Questionnaire (MRQ).

Intervention

Solving VP cases OTHER

See above

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• fourth-year medical students, University of Copenhagen
• pre-study participation in the mandatory patient encounter skills course

You may not qualify if:

• medical students who had taken the three pre-clerkship years at other universities, because of curriculum discrepancies

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rigshospitalet, Denmark: lead
• University of Copenhagen: collaborator
• Centre for Clinical Education: collaborator

Study Officials

• Charlotte Ringsted, MD MHPE PHD

  Centre for Clinical Education

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: MD, PHD student

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 17, 2015
• First Posted: March 27, 2015
• Study Start: January 1, 2013
• Primary Completion: February 1, 2013
• Study Completion: May 1, 2013
• Last Updated: March 27, 2015

Record last verified: 2015-03