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Effectiveness of virtual patients in teaching clinical decision‐making skills to dental students
Author(s) -
Mardani Maryam,
Cheraghian Sajjad,
Naeeni Soheyl Khaje,
Zarifsanaiey Nahid
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/jdd.12045
Subject(s) - descriptive statistics , repeated measures design , analysis of variance , statistical significance , intervention (counseling) , medicine , test (biology) , virtual patient , dental education , dentistry , physical therapy , psychology , medical education , nursing , mathematics , statistics , paleontology , biology
Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of virtual patient‐based training on the clinical decision‐making ability of dental students. Methods This quasi‐experimental study with pretest and posttest design was conducted on 76 (2015 admitted) dental students of Shiraz Dental School in 2018–2019. The study samples were randomly divided into 2 groups: intervention (web‐based virtual patient training = 36) and control (face‐to‐face case‐based training, n = 40). The data collection tools in this study included a questionnaire consisting of 2 sections: demographic information and procedural knowledge. The key‐feature test was used to measure procedural knowledge and problem‐solving ability in students. Content validity was confirmed by 7 faculty members. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS Statistics version 23.0. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the samples, Independent‐ t test was used to compare the scores between the 2 groups, and repeated measures ANOVA was used to assess the effect of time on the training provided. P < 0.05 was considered as the acceptable significance level. Results The mean clinical‐decision‐making score in the intervention group (11.3 ± 88.88) was more than the control group (8.2 ± 45.54) in Posttest 1 (1 week after intervention), and the difference was statistically significant ( P < 0.001). Besides, the scores in the control group (8.2 ± 45.54) rose more significantly than the intervention group (11.3 ± 0.86) in Posttest 2 (1 month after intervention) ( P < 0.001). Conclusion The results of the present research showed that application of virtual patient (VP)‐based training can improve learning and clinical decision‐making ability of dental students. Moreover, group discussions in physical classrooms should be held alongside VP programs in order to ensure the maximum retention of the topics learned.