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Background: Effective communication is critical in clinical practice, and virtual patients offer a promising, safe alternative for enhancing communication training in medical education. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of virtual patient-based simulation in enhancing key communication skills-such as active listening, empathy, and clarity of explanations-and to explore learner experience, including engagement, satisfaction, usability, and perceived educational value, using a mixed methods approach. Materials and Methods: This one-year mixed-methods study (Aug 2022-Jul 2023) assessed the effectiveness and learner experience of virtual patient-based communication training among undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees across six institutions in Pakistan. A total of 258 undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees participated in virtual simulations using the Body Interact™ platform (Take The Wind, SA, Coimbra, Portugal). Participants were enrolled through convenience sampling and represented a mix of clinical-year undergraduates and early- to mid-stage postgraduate trainees, with no prior formal training in virtual patient-based communication tools. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-training questionnaires assessing communication skills, confidence, and satisfaction, analyzed using paired t-tests. Qualitative data were obtained via semi-structured interviews with a subset of participants (n ≈ 25) and analyzed using thematic analysis. Triangulation integrated both data sets for comprehensive interpretation. Results: Participants showed significant improvement in communication domains, including active listening (pre: 3.21±0.81; post: 4.11±0.66; p<0.001), empathy and rapport (pre: 3.05±0.76; post: 4.00±0.61; p<0.001), and clarity of explanations (pre: 3.14±0.83; post: 4.02±0.59; p<0.001). Overall communication confidence increased by +1.16 points (p<0.001), and satisfaction by +1.15 points (p<0.001). Qualitative themes supported these findings, highlighting perceived realism, engagement, and reflective learning, with minor usability concerns. Conclusion: Virtual patients are an effective and engaging tool for improving healthcare communication skills in clinical trainees.
Jadoon et al. (Tue,) studied this question.