To systematically review and meta-analyze the impact of AI-enhanced virtual patients on psychiatric interview performance, knowledge acquisition, and learner confidence in health professions education, emphasizing the systematic nature of the review.
Key Findings:
10 studies met inclusion criteria, involving approximately 450 participants. AI-enhanced virtual patient interventions included conversational AI systems and virtual human simulations. Pooled analyses indicated improvements in psychiatric interview performance, knowledge acquisition, and learner confidence, with specific data on effect sizes or statistical significance. Positive educational outcomes were observed across both student and clinician populations.
Interpretation:
AI-enhanced virtual patient simulations are effective educational tools for improving psychiatric interview training, providing scalable and standardized environments for skill development, with implications for future training practices.
Limitations:
Variable methodological quality across studies, with several studies being pilot and non-randomized designs, and potential biases in the studies reviewed. Need for further large-scale randomized controlled trials.
Conclusion:
AI-enhanced virtual patient simulations show promise in enhancing psychiatric interview training, but further research is needed to confirm long-term educational impacts, particularly focusing on specific types of future research.
