The Virtual Clinic application – a new solution for modern medical education

Abstract

Introduction: The abrupt transition to remote learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic clearly indicated the need to implement radical technological and institutional changes to the current approach to teaching. Virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) assisted programs have emerged as the new and effective methods utilized in education and medical training. Material and methods: The Virtual Clinic (VC) is a new online application developed by Polish medical universities which implement AI algorithms to teach students the medical interview including obtaining patients medical history, performing a physical examination as well as diagnostics and treatment planning. Our study enrolled 164 medical students who tested the VC and completed an online questionnaire. Results: The results of the survey showed that 93.9% of the respondents believe that the VC will prove effective as an educational tool supporting teaching at faculties of medicine and health sciences. Conclusions: Our preliminary experiences suggest that the use of AI assisted programs such as the VC seems highly anticipated and justified in medical higher education.

Keywords

• virtual clinic
• virtual patient
• artificial intelligence
• medical education
• medical simulation