Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer

Abstract Introduction Combination of Standardized Patient (SP) and Case Based Learning (CBL) is a common method in medical education, but traditional SP (TSP) may not be conducive to students’ mastery of basic medical knowledge and the cultivation of clinical thinking. Therefore, it is necessary to...

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Main Authors: Yang Jiang, Xinghua Fu, Jing Wang, Qinling Liu, Xinyu Wang, Peijie Liu, Runchen Fu, Jiangpiao Shi, Yibo Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-12-01
Series:BMC Medical Education
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06530-8
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author Yang Jiang
Xinghua Fu
Jing Wang
Qinling Liu
Xinyu Wang
Peijie Liu
Runchen Fu
Jiangpiao Shi
Yibo Wu
author_facet Yang Jiang
Xinghua Fu
Jing Wang
Qinling Liu
Xinyu Wang
Peijie Liu
Runchen Fu
Jiangpiao Shi
Yibo Wu
author_sort Yang Jiang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Introduction Combination of Standardized Patient (SP) and Case Based Learning (CBL) is a common method in medical education, but traditional SP (TSP) may not be conducive to students’ mastery of basic medical knowledge and the cultivation of clinical thinking. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate SP to optimize SP combined with CBL teaching method. Objective This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a chatbot utilizing standardized patients based on CBL (CSP-CBL) for colorectal cancer education. Methods 61 medical students who have studied the theoretical knowledge of colorectal cancer were selected as the study objects and randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental group used CSP-CBL, and the control group used traditional SP based on CBL (TSP-CBL). Before the intervention, basic knowledge test and clinical thinking ability assessment scale were used to investigate basic ability. After the intervention, we compared the effectiveness of two teaching methods in training colorectal cancer diagnosis and treatment skills through basic knowledge test, clinical thinking ability assessment scale, course experience questionnaire and client satisfaction questionnaire. Result The majority of participants were female (62.3%, 38/61), 67.2% (41/61) were in the top 60% of school grades, and only 13.1% (8/61) had a medical background. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of demographic and sociological characteristics. There was no difference in pre-test of basic knowledge scores between the two groups (P = 0.489), but the CSP-CBL group scored significantly higher at post-intervention compared to the TSP-CBL group (SMD = -0.629, P < 0.05, 95% CI = (-0.789,-0.468)) and the CSP-CBL group also scored significantly higher than their baseline scores (SMD = − 0.991, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (-1.241,-0.740)). In terms of clinical thinking skills, the CSP-CBL group significantly improved their total score from (79.6 ± 15.9) to (86.2 ± 17.3) after the intervention (SMD = − 0.398, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (-0.498,-0.297)), but there was no significant difference between the two groups.The CSP-CBL group had a significantly lower academic load and course stress than the TSP-CBL group (SMD = -0.941, p < 0.01, 95% CI = (-1.181,-0.701); SMD = -0.6, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (-0.753,-0.447)) and scored significantly higher on the evaluation of future knowledge value (SMD = 0.603, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (0.449,0.757)). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of overall satisfaction, but the CSP-CBL group was significantly more satisfied than the TSP-CBL group in terms of meeting learning needs (SMD = 0.532, P < 0.05, 95% CI=(0.396,0.668)). There was no significant difference between the two groups in willingness to reuse the learning model. Conclusion The results show that CSP-CBL teaching can significantly improve the basic knowledge and clinical thinking of clinical medical students learning colorectal cancer, better meet the learning needs of students and reduce the learning burden appropriately. Trial registration ChiCTR2300072017 (registered on 31/05/2023).
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spelling doaj-art-3ecf25f2686e4e5b823bb2516c9a53702024-12-22T12:33:07ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202024-12-0124111310.1186/s12909-024-06530-8Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancerYang Jiang0Xinghua Fu1Jing Wang2Qinling Liu3Xinyu Wang4Peijie Liu5Runchen Fu6Jiangpiao Shi7Yibo Wu8Jitang College, North China University of Science and TechnologyThe Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical UniversitySchool of Public Health, Peking UniversityCollege of Nursing, North Sichuan Medical collegeThe Fourth Central Hospital of BaodingXi’an Jiaotong UniversitySchool of Pharmaceutical Sciences& lnstitute of Materia Medica, Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Academy of Medical SciencesThe Fourth Central Hospital of BaodingSchool of Public Health, Peking UniversityAbstract Introduction Combination of Standardized Patient (SP) and Case Based Learning (CBL) is a common method in medical education, but traditional SP (TSP) may not be conducive to students’ mastery of basic medical knowledge and the cultivation of clinical thinking. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate SP to optimize SP combined with CBL teaching method. Objective This study aims to explore the effectiveness of a chatbot utilizing standardized patients based on CBL (CSP-CBL) for colorectal cancer education. Methods 61 medical students who have studied the theoretical knowledge of colorectal cancer were selected as the study objects and randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental group used CSP-CBL, and the control group used traditional SP based on CBL (TSP-CBL). Before the intervention, basic knowledge test and clinical thinking ability assessment scale were used to investigate basic ability. After the intervention, we compared the effectiveness of two teaching methods in training colorectal cancer diagnosis and treatment skills through basic knowledge test, clinical thinking ability assessment scale, course experience questionnaire and client satisfaction questionnaire. Result The majority of participants were female (62.3%, 38/61), 67.2% (41/61) were in the top 60% of school grades, and only 13.1% (8/61) had a medical background. There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of demographic and sociological characteristics. There was no difference in pre-test of basic knowledge scores between the two groups (P = 0.489), but the CSP-CBL group scored significantly higher at post-intervention compared to the TSP-CBL group (SMD = -0.629, P < 0.05, 95% CI = (-0.789,-0.468)) and the CSP-CBL group also scored significantly higher than their baseline scores (SMD = − 0.991, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (-1.241,-0.740)). In terms of clinical thinking skills, the CSP-CBL group significantly improved their total score from (79.6 ± 15.9) to (86.2 ± 17.3) after the intervention (SMD = − 0.398, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (-0.498,-0.297)), but there was no significant difference between the two groups.The CSP-CBL group had a significantly lower academic load and course stress than the TSP-CBL group (SMD = -0.941, p < 0.01, 95% CI = (-1.181,-0.701); SMD = -0.6, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (-0.753,-0.447)) and scored significantly higher on the evaluation of future knowledge value (SMD = 0.603, p < 0.05, 95% CI = (0.449,0.757)). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of overall satisfaction, but the CSP-CBL group was significantly more satisfied than the TSP-CBL group in terms of meeting learning needs (SMD = 0.532, P < 0.05, 95% CI=(0.396,0.668)). There was no significant difference between the two groups in willingness to reuse the learning model. Conclusion The results show that CSP-CBL teaching can significantly improve the basic knowledge and clinical thinking of clinical medical students learning colorectal cancer, better meet the learning needs of students and reduce the learning burden appropriately. Trial registration ChiCTR2300072017 (registered on 31/05/2023).https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06530-8Standardized patientsTeaching reformChatbotCase-based learningColorectal cancerRandomized controlled trial
spellingShingle Yang Jiang
Xinghua Fu
Jing Wang
Qinling Liu
Xinyu Wang
Peijie Liu
Runchen Fu
Jiangpiao Shi
Yibo Wu
Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer
BMC Medical Education
Standardized patients
Teaching reform
Chatbot
Case-based learning
Colorectal cancer
Randomized controlled trial
title Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer
title_full Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer
title_fullStr Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer
title_short Enhancing medical education with chatbots: a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer
title_sort enhancing medical education with chatbots a randomized controlled trial on standardized patients for colorectal cancer
topic Standardized patients
Teaching reform
Chatbot
Case-based learning
Colorectal cancer
Randomized controlled trial
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-06530-8
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