Adapting virtual patient interviews for interviewing skills training of novice healthcare students

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of using a selection-based interaction method to adapt virtual patient interviews for training novice healthcare students in interviewing skills. We outline a method for identifying topics about which novices are likely to ask by reviewing previous transcripts of novice interactions, and results indicate that the method was successful in such identification. Additionally, we examine the possibility of using a selection-based virtual patient as a modeling tool for learning interviewing skills. Our initial results support the possibility of such question modeling and reveal that healthcare students already view selection-based virtual patient interactions as modeling opportunities.