AI Virtual Patient Training for Dental Student History Taking

NCT07688668 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: H2026/548
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 56
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This randomized study evaluated whether an artificial intelligence-assisted virtual patient could support third-year dental students in practicing medical and dental history taking. Fifty-six students were assigned to either a Gemini-based virtual-patient training group or a conventional role-play group. Both groups completed four training sessions over 2 weeks using comparable clinical cases, practice time, and feedback criteria. The study compared changes in case-based history-taking competency as well as student satisfaction and perceived usefulness of the training methods.

Conditions

Dental Education; Artificial Intelligence (AI); Virtual Patient; History Taking; Large Language Model

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in Case-Based Clinical History-Taking Competency Score

  Change from baseline to postintervention in the composite case-based clinical history-taking competency score. Competency was assessed using five clinical scenarios representing common conditions in the third-year dental curriculum. Scores ranged from 0 to 10 points, with higher scores indicating better history-taking-related clinical competency. Each assessment was independently scored by two faculty assessors who were blinded to study-group allocation.

  Baseline and immediately after completion of the 2-week training intervention

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Student Satisfaction With the Training Method

  Immediately after completion of the 2-week training intervention

• Perceived Effectiveness of the Training Method

  Immediately after completion of the 2-week training intervention

Study Arms (2)

Gemini-Based AI Virtual-Patient Training

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants received Gemini-based artificial intelligence virtual-patient training for dental history taking. They completed four training sessions over 2 weeks using curriculum-bounded clinical cases and automated rubric-aligned feedback.

Behavioral: Gemini-Based AI Virtual-Patient Training

Conventional Role-Play Group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants received conventional role-play training for dental history taking. They completed four training sessions over 2 weeks using comparable clinical cases, practice time, and rubric-guided feedback.

Behavioral: Conventional Role-Play Training

Interventions

Gemini-Based AI Virtual-Patient Training BEHAVIORAL

Students completed four 30- to 45-minute history-taking training sessions over 2 weeks using a Gemini-based artificial intelligence virtual patient. Students typed questions, documented elicited medical and dental history, and received automated rubric-aligned feedback after each simulated patient encounter. The virtual patient used predefined curriculum-based case information and disclosed information only in response to relevant student questions.

Gemini-Based AI Virtual-Patient Training

Conventional Role-Play Training BEHAVIORAL

Students completed four 30- to 45-minute history-taking training sessions over 2 weeks with trained role-players or faculty members using standardized case scripts. Students practiced eliciting medical and dental history and received feedback guided by the same assessment rubric used in the virtual-patient group.

Conventional Role-Play Group

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Third-year undergraduate dental students enrolled in the dental program at the Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University.
• No previous history-taking training supported by a large language model.
• Willingness to participate and provision of written informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Withdrawal from the study.
• Failure to complete the baseline assessment, scheduled training sessions, or postintervention assessment.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy: lead

Study Sites (1)

Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University

Huế, Hue City, 530000, Vietnam

Location

Study Officials

• Van Nhat Thang Le, DDS PhD

  Faculty of Odonto-Stomatology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to one of two parallel training arms: a Gemini-based artificial intelligence virtual-patient group or a conventional role-play group. Both groups completed four history-taking training sessions over 2 weeks using comparable clinical topics, numbers of cases, practice time, and feedback criteria.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2026
• First Posted: July 7, 2026
• Study Start: May 30, 2026
• Primary Completion: June 15, 2026
• Study Completion: June 18, 2026
• Last Updated: July 7, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

VN (1)