ArticleBMC medical education2023
Virtual versus paper-based PBL in a pulmonology course for medical undergraduates.
Article in BMC medical education, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Virtual patients in medical education: a bibliometric analysis based on the wos core collection and scopus databases.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Medical students' evaluation of digital problem-based learning: a mixed-methods systematic review.BMC medical education · 2025Pooled it
- The effectiveness of symptom-oriented mind mapping combined with problem-based learning in critical care clerkships: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- An assessment of clinical reception training using standard patient and dental simulator in prosthodontic dentistry for dental undergraduates: a historical control trial.BMC medical education · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundProblem-based learning (PBL) remains a valid and effective tool for small-group medical education. Using Virtual patients (VP) case simulation in PBL is a recognizable educational method that has successfully prepared students to focus learning on core information that uses realistic patient-based cases relating to everyday clinical scenarios. Using other modalities as the virtual patient in PBL instead of the paper-based methods remains debatable. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using VP case simulation mannequin in PBL versus the PBL in paper-based cases in improving the cognitive skills by comparing the grades of a multiple-choice question test and assess its ability to reach students' satisfaction using questionnaire with Likert survey instrument.
methodsThe study was conducted on 459 fourth-year medical students studying in the pulmonology module of the internal medicine course, Faculty of Medicine, October 6 University. All students were divided into 16 PBL classes and randomly divided into groups A and B by simple manual randomization. The groups were parallel with a controlled cross-over study between paper-based and virtual patient PBL.
resultsThe pre-test showed no significant difference between both, while post-test scores were significantly higher in both VP PBL cases 1 discussing COPD (6.25 ± 0.875) and case 2 discussing pneumonia (6.56 ± 1.396) compared to paper-based PBL (5.29 ± 1.166, 5.57 ± SD1.388, respectively) at p < 0.1 When students in Group A experienced PBL using VP in case 2 after paper-based PBL in case 1, their post-test score improved significantly. (from 5.26 to 6.56, p < .01). Meanwhile, there was a significant regression in the post-test score of the students in Group B when they experienced the paper-based PBL session in case 2 after using PBL using VP in case 1, (from 6.26 to 5.57, p < .01). Most of the students recommended using VP in PBL as they found VP was more engaging and inducing concentration in gathering the information needed to characterize the patient's problem than in a classroom- paper-based cases session. They also enjoyed the teaching of the instructor and found it a suitable learning style for them.
conclusionImplementing virtual patients in PBL increased knowledge acquisition and understanding in medical students and was more motivating for students than paper based PBL to gather the needed information.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.