Virtual patients in the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills: does presentation mode matter? A quasi-randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The objective of this study is to compare two different instructional methods in the curricular use of computerized virtual patients in undergraduate medical education. We aim to investigate whether using many short and focused cases - the key feature principle - is more effective for the learning of clinical reasoning skills than using few long and systematic cases.

Methods

We conducted a quasi-randomized, non-blinded, controlled parallel-group intervention trial in a large medical school in Southwestern Germany. During two seminar sessions, fourth- and fifth-year medical students (n = 56) worked on the differential diagnosis of the acute abdomen. The educational tool - virtual patients - was the same, but the instructional method differed: In one trial arm, stud

SUBMITTER: Schubach F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5603058 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature