Educators' perceptions and views of problem-based learning through simulation

Early introduction of simulation in the medical curriculum: the MedInTo perspective

Despite the increasing body of evidence supporting the use of simulation in medicine, a question remains: when should we introduce it into the medical school's curriculum? We present the experience and future perspectives of the MD program in Medicine and Surgery of University of Turin-MedInTo. Since its launch, MedInTo has been dedicated to integrating innovative teaching approaches at the early stages into the medical curriculum. Herewith, we describe a case-based approach for our activities, which includes the utilization of simulation for emergency medical care training for students and the integration of virtual and augmented reality technology. Dedicated surgical training activities using virtual-augmented reality and life-like simulator for students are also described.

Application of integrated problem-based learning combined with lecture-based classroom teaching in undergraduate medical education: An effective teaching model in a Medical School in China

The problem-based learning (PBL) is increasingly used in undergraduate education. However, the application of integrated PBL to medical undergraduate education has not been well assessed. An observational study was designed to compare integrated PBL combined with lecture-based classroom (LBC) with traditional LBC teaching in 2 semesters of a Medical School in China. This study was conducted from March 2021 to July 2022. A total of 118 undergraduates majoring in clinical medicine were randomly allocated in 2 groups, 1 group receiving the integrated PBL + LBC teaching (experimental group, n = 60) and another group receiving LBC teaching (control group, n = 58). The experimental group attended the integrated PBL courses for the basic and clinical medicine conducted in the 6th and 8th semesters, respectively, as well as taking the LBC courses. The experimental group was required to preview the course materials before class, make presentations in class and take online feedback questionnaires after class, while the control group was required to preview the textbooks and listen to the traditional LBC courses. The students' scores of these 2 groups were compared, and feedback questionnaires were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the experimental group over the control group. Results showed that the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group in Clinical Skills (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.19-5.89), Internal Medicine I (95% CI: 1.85-9.93), Internal Medicine II (95% CI: 8.07-15.90), Introduction to Surgery (95% CI: 5.08-10.25), Surgery (General Surgery) (95% CI: 7.82-12.72), Surgery (Specialty) (95% CI: 6.47-9.97), and Clinical Medical Level Test (95% CI: 1.60-5.15) (all P < .01). In the feedback questionnaires of integrated PBL, up to 80% and 90% of students were satisfied with the teaching methods and lecturers, respectively. More than 80% of students agreed that the integrated PBL improved their abilities to learn independently, understand knowledge, and to raise, analyze and solve problems. In terms of stress in and out of class, a small number of students, <36.7%, felt stressed. The integrated PBL combined with LBC is an effective teaching approach, which may provide new ideas for teaching research and reform on undergraduate medical education in clinical medicine specialty and other medical majors.

Design of a Virtual Reality Interactive Training System for Public Health Emergency Preparedness for Major Emerging Infectious Diseases: Theory and Framework

Background

Sufficient public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) is the key factor in effectively responding to and recovering from major emerging infectious diseases (MEIDs). However, in the face of MEIDs, PHEP is insufficient, so it is necessary to improve PHEP. The rapid development of virtual reality and human-computer interaction provides unprecedented opportunities for innovative educational methods.

Objective

This study designed a virtual reality interactive training system (VRITS) to provide an effective path for improving PHEP in the context of MEIDs so that the public can effectively respond to and recover from MEIDs.

Methods

This study used interactive narrative, situated learning and human-computer interaction theories as a theoretical framework to guide the design of the system. We used the literature research method and the Delphi method; consulted multidisciplinary experts, such as infectious diseases, disease control, psychology, and public health personnel, to determine the educational content framework; and set up an interdisciplinary team to construct an operating system framework for the VRITS.

Results

We named the VRITS “People’s War Against Pandemic.” The educational content framework includes 20 knowledge, emotion, and behavior skills in 5 aspects (cooperating with prevention and control work, improving emergency response ability, guaranteeing supplies and equipment, preparing economic resources, and maintaining physical and mental health). The operating system framework includes virtual interactive training, knowledge corner, intelligent evaluation, and community forum modules, and the core module is the virtual interactive training module. In this module, users control virtual characters to move in various scenes, and then identify and analyze the controllability and harmfulness of the evolving pandemic and select the correct prevention and control strategy to avoid infecting themselves and others.

Conclusions

The development and sharing of the multidisciplinary theoretical framework adopted by People’s War Against Pandemic can help us clarify the design ideas and assumptions of the VRITS; predict training results; understand the ability of training to change emergency knowledge, emergency emotion, and behavioral responses to MEIDs; and promote the development of more effective training systems based on virtual reality.