Using virtual patients to assess clinical reasoning
Leveraging virtual patients to assess clinical reasoning provides an innovative approach to enhancing medical education at Karolinska Institutet. By simulating complex, real-world scenarios in a controlled digital environment, virtual patients offer a dynamic tool for evaluating students' clinical decision-making skills. This method not only promotes deeper learning but also ensures that future healthcare professionals are better prepared for the challenges of patient care.
What is a Virtual Patient?
Virtual patients are computer-based simulations of real-life clinical scenarios. They allow students to interact with a digital patient, gather information, make diagnoses, and decide on treatment plans. This tool provides a safe and controlled environment for students to practice and demonstrate their clinical reasoning skills. Virtual patients can be programmed to present a wide range of medical conditions, offering diverse learning experiences.
There are different web-based simulators for Virtual Patient encounters:
- Medical and Nursing programs at KI use the Virtual Interactive Case system: VIC fall skapade för Karolinska Institutet
- Centre for Psychiatry Research at KI uses Virtual Case Systems: Virtual Patients for intimate partner violence (an interactive web platform): https://www.psykiatriforskning.se/Utbildning/fortbildning/virtuella-patienter--utbildningsmaterial-for-vald-i-nara-relationer/
- There is an OLab4 system as well, which is an open-source education research platform with virtual scenarios.
The nursing program embedded VIC in Canvas and Inspera.
Related material
- Temacafé: Virtuella fallbeskrivningar - Virtual Case System
- Clinical reasoning: What do nurses, physicians, and students reason about. Huesmann L; Sudacka M; Durning SJ; Georg C; Huwendiek S; Kononowicz AA; Schlegel C; Hege I. Article: JOURNAL OF INTERPROFESSIONAL CARE. 2023;37(6):990-998