A qualitative study of health professional students’ development of therapeutic competence through interactive simulation-based learning

Abstract Health education must prepare students to support clients in sensitive and complex health situations. Developing therapeutic competence requires students navigating practical, relational, and ethical challenges. To address this need, the Therapeutic VR Interaction (TeraVRi) project developed four learning resources involving virtual patients and practice-based scenarios. This study investigates healthcare students’ perceptions of learning, focusing on how they understand therapeutic competence and which competencies emerge through simulation-based learning using TeraVRi resources (SBL–TeraVRi). TeraVRi’s interactive features, particularly peermediated, realtime feedback, were intended to enable students to engage in realistic situations and develop practical skills. Twenty-four students from Dentistry, Occupational Therapy, and Psychology were organised into four interprofessional groups. Each group explored two learning resources. Data were generated through eight participatory observations, followed by eight focus group interviews, and analysed using systematic text condensation. Therapeutic competence was recognised as an essential yet multifaceted concept, interpreted through disciplinary lenses. Across groups, core competencies included emotional awareness, communication, relational skills, and applied knowledge. The immersive and interactive nature of the resources activated emotions, supported by perspective-taking, and bridged theory-practice links. The students valued the opportunity of safe engagement and immediate feedback, which supported reflection and skill refinement. The immersive and interactive nature of the learning resources appeared to activate students’ emotions and deepened their understanding of therapeutic competence. The findings suggest that SBL–TeraVRi supports reflective and experiential learning by helping students connect theoretical knowledge with practice. While findings are limited to three disciplines, they suggest that thoughtfully designed virtual scenarios can complement traditional practice by developing therapeutic competence.