Simulation-based ward rounds in preclinical medical education: a case study in medical parasitology

Preclinical medical education must help students connect foundational knowledge with clinical contexts, yet opportunities for clinically contextualized active learning remain limited in discipline-specific courses such as Medical Parasitology. Simulation-based ward rounds (SBWR) may provide such an opportunity, but evidence regarding their implementation and student experience in preclinical medical education is limited. We conducted a post-intervention mixed-methods educational evaluation of SBWR embedded in the discussion component of a compulsory Medical Parasitology course for third-year medical students from five-year Clinical Medicine, five-year Stomatology, Anesthesiology, and Preventive Medicine. Each group contained approximately 10–15 students and completed one 45-minute SBWR session during the same teaching week. Across 10 parallel groups, 139 students participated in SBWR, of whom 92 voluntarily completed the post-session questionnaire. Respondents were categorized into a role-playing group ( n = 49) and a non-role-playing group ( n = 43) according to whether they assumed an active scenario role. Quantitative responses were summarized descriptively and exploratory between-group comparisons were performed. Open-ended responses were coded inductively to identify recurring implementation themes. Students reported high overall satisfaction with SBWR (mean 8.84 ± 1.13 on a 10-point scale). Across questionnaire items, the role-playing group gave descriptively higher ratings on several learning-related items, but no between-group difference reached statistical significance. For the clinical reasoning item, 63.3% of students in the role-playing group selected the highest rating, compared with 48.8% in the non-role-playing group. However, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Open-ended feedback identified unclear procedures, insufficient role preparation or organization, limited case information, and scenario setup as areas for improvement. Students reported favorable experiences with SBWR as a clinically contextualized learning activity in preclinical medical education. Because the study used a post-intervention self-report design without a non-SBWR control group or objective learning assessment, the findings should be interpreted as evidence of acceptability and perceived learning experience rather than educational effectiveness. Controlled studies incorporating objective outcomes are needed.