Virtual Patients in Clinician’s Education: Theory, Knowledge and Self-efficacy in Anxiety Diagnosis

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the extent to which the use of virtual patient (VP) improves the level of theoretical knowledge and students’ confidence (self-efficacy) of psychology and medicine students to perform clinical diagnostic. We created two classes on an e-learning Moodle platform, presenting, as virtual patient, the evaluation of the same panic disorder case. One class uses a linear VP , the other, a branched VP (a decisional tree type). The sample consisted of 159 volunteer participants, psychology and medicine students, randomly assigned to one of three conditions : control, linear virtual patient ( PVL) and branched virtual patient (PAD). Before and after the training with the virtual patient sequence, a questionnaire investigates the theoretical knowledge and the self-efficacy levels. For self-efficacy evaluation we used the Session Management sub-scale of �  Counsellor Activity Self-Efficacy Scales, by Robert W. and Clara E. Hill.

Both types of VPs are associated with a statistically significant increase of knowledge about panic disorder diagnostic criteria,  reinforcing the fact that the virtual patient has an impact on the cognitive profile (declarative knowledge) and on self-efficacy (related to procedural knowledge). Still, the study does not  prove that one of the two types of virtual patient has a significant better outcome .