Medical Students' Acceptance and Learning Efficacy With Physical and Virtual Standardized Patients

September 17, 2023 updated by: National Taiwan University Hospital

A Comparative Study of Medical Students' Acceptance and Learning Efficacy With Physical and Virtual Standardized Patients

This study will focus on exploring the experiential differences between virtual standardized patients and physical standardized patients, gathering feedback through questionnaires and brief interviews. Standardized patients have been widely used in medical education and physician licensing exams in Taiwan for over 15 years. With the rise of technology-enhanced medical education, it is necessary to reexamine the professional attributes and identification of standardized patients and explore the implementation of virtual standardized patient systems. The research aims to reshape the professional identity of standardized patients, identify necessary attributes and competencies, and establish a virtual standardized patient system to assess medical students' acceptance and learning outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This research project aims to investigate the differences in acceptance and learning efficacy between physical standardized patients and virtual standardized patients among medical students. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the physical standardized patient group or the virtual standardized patient group. They will experience scenarios with real standardized patients or screen-based virtual standardized patients, engaging in activities such as taking medical histories and explaining conditions. The study will collect questionnaire feedback on learning efficacy and acceptance.

The primary research questions include: Are there differences in medical students' perceptions of teaching scenarios involving virtual standardized patients versus physical standardized patients? Are there differences in medical students' self-efficacy growth after practicing teaching scenarios with virtual standardized patients versus real standardized patients? Secondary research questions include: What professional attributes and competencies should standardized patients possess? Does technological literacy influence medical students' acceptance of virtual standardized patients? How do virtual and physical standardized patient scenarios differ in terms of perceptions by standardized patients and learners?

This study will focus on exploring the experiential differences between virtual standardized patients and physical standardized patients, gathering feedback through questionnaires and brief interviews. Standardized patients have been widely used in medical education and physician licensing exams in Taiwan for over 15 years. With the rise of technology-enhanced medical education, it is necessary to reexamine the professional attributes and identification of standardized patients and explore the implementation of virtual standardized patient systems. The research aims to reshape the professional identity of standardized patients, identify necessary attributes and competencies, and establish a virtual standardized patient system to assess medical students' acceptance and learning outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei City, Taiwan
        • Department of Medical Education, National Taiwan University Hospital
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Medical students studying at the National Taiwan University School of Medicine
  2. Able to understand the research case and sign the written consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Has used relevant virtual standardized patient software in the past (past exposure)
  2. Unable to adapt to technological applications or successfully use this virtual standardized patient system (unable to cooperate with research)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: With physical standardized patients
Medical students practice consultation with physical standardized patients.
Other: With physical standardized patients
The physical standardized patient is a real person who has received professional training courses in the department of medical education of National Taiwan University Hospital, and can help medical students practice consultations.
Experimental: With virtual standardized patients
Medical students practice consultation with virtual standardized patients.
Other: With virtual standardized patients
The virtual standardized patient is a software system that presents on a computer screen like a video conference, allowing medical students to interact with it for medical consultation. The virtual character modeling adopts 3D model, the expression of the character is delicate, and the voice feedback is clear. After the students' questions are asked by voice recognition and key words are extracted, appropriate responses are given.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perception differences between medical student using virtual standardized patients and physical standardized patients.
Time Frame: 1 year

Perception questionnaire including satisfaction and acceptability. The questionnaire will use a 5-Point Likert Scale to assess the acceptance and satisfaction levels of physical standardized patients in comparison to virtual standardized patients among medical students. Here are some sample questions:

S1: I am satisfied with how the "Virtual Standardized Patient System" operates.

  1. Strongly Disagree
  2. Disagree
  3. Neutral
  4. Agree
  5. Strongly Agree

S2: I am satisfied with the interactive process of medical history inquiries within the "Virtual Standardized Patient System."

  1. Strongly Disagree
  2. Disagree
  3. Neutral
  4. Agree
  5. Strongly Agree

S3: I am satisfied with the interactive process of medical condition explanations within the "Virtual Standardized Patient System."

  1. Strongly Disagree
  2. Disagree
  3. Neutral
  4. Agree
  5. Strongly Agree
1 year
Learning efficacy difference between medical student using virtual standardized patients and physical standardized patients.
Time Frame: 1 year

The questionnaire will employ a 5-Point Likert Scale to investigate the learning effectiveness of medical students when comparing physical and virtual standardized patients. Below are some sample questions:

PU2: I believe that the "Virtual Standardized Patient System" can be expected to enhance clinical learning.

  1. Strongly Disagree
  2. Disagree
  3. Neutral
  4. Agree
  5. Strongly Agree

PU3: I am of the opinion that the "Virtual Standardized Patient System" will facilitate clinical learning.

  1. Strongly Disagree
  2. Disagree
  3. Neutral
  4. Agree
  5. Strongly Agree

EE4: I find learning to use the "Virtual Standardized Patient System" to be a challenging skill to master.

  1. Strongly Disagree
  2. Disagree
  3. Neutral
  4. Agree
  5. Strongly Agree
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Taiwan University Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Cheng-Heng Liu, MD, National Taiwan University Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

October 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 24, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 1, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

September 11, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 21, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 17, 2023

Last Verified

August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 202307039RINA

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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