Development and evaluation of a virtual patient-based exam in occupational medicine

Inga Hege; Iris Schröpfer; Katja Radon

doi:10.1515/bams-2015-0008

Article

Development and evaluation of a virtual patient-based exam in occupational medicine

Inga Hege , Iris Schröpfer and Katja Radon

Published/Copyright: May 6, 2015

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From the journal Bio-Algorithms and Med-Systems Volume 11 Issue 2

Abstract

Occupational medicine (OM), especially the ability to recognize potentially workplace-related diseases or accidents, is important for medical students to learn. The assessment in OM at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University is implemented as a paper-based, multiple-choice question exam that does not assess the students’ ability to remember occupational aspects in clinical contexts. Therefore, the aim of this study was to create and evaluate an online exam based on 19 virtual patients to assess the aspects of OM in an interdisciplinary setting. Thirty-nine medical students participated in the exam with an average score of 65%. The score for freetext questions assessing OM aspects was low (39%). The study showed that the implementation of an interdisciplinary VP-based exam is feasible. The integration of such an interdisciplinary exam would be feasible, for example, as an open-book assessment.

Keywords: interdisciplinary assessment; occupational medicine; virtual patient

Corresponding author: Inga Hege, Institut für Didaktik und Ausbildungsforschung in der Medizin, University Hospital of Munich (LMU), Ziemssenstr. 1, Munich 80337, Germany, E-mail: inga.hege@med.uni-muenchen.de

Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Received: 2015-3-28

Accepted: 2015-4-21

Published Online: 2015-5-6

Published in Print: 2015-6-15

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/bams-2015-0008

Keywords for this article

interdisciplinary assessment; occupational medicine; virtual patient