BACKGROUND Computerized virtual patients (VP) have spread into many areas of healthcare delivery and medical education. They provide various advantages like flexibility in pace and space of learning, a high degree of teaching reproducibility and a cost effectiveness. However, the educational benefit of VP as an additive or also as an alternative to traditional teaching formats remains unclear. Moreover, there are no randomized-controlled studies that investigated the use of VP in a dental curriculum. Therefore, this study investigates VP as an alternative to lecturer-led small-group teaching in a curricular, randomized and controlled setting. METHODS Randomized and controlled cohort study. Four VP cases were created according to previously published design principles and compared with lecturer-led small group teaching (SGT) within the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery clerkship for dental students at the Department for Cranio-, Oral and Maxillofacial Plastic Surgery, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. Clinical competence was measured prior (T0), directly (T1) and 6 weeks (T2) after the intervention using theoretical tests and a self-assessment questionnaire. Furthermore, VP design was evaluated using a validated toolkit. RESULTS Fifty-seven students (VP = 32; SGT = 25) agreed to participate in the study. No competence differences were found at T0 (p = 0.56). The VP group outperformed (p < .0001) the SGT group at T1. At T2 there was no difference between both groups (p = 0.55). Both interventions led to a significant growth in self-assessed competence. The VP group felt better prepared to diagnose and treat real patients and regarded VP cases as a rewarding learning experience. CONCLUSIONS VP cases are an effective alternative to lecture-led SGT in terms of learning efficacy in the short and long-term as well as self-assessed competence growth and student satisfaction. Furthermore, integrating VP cases within a curricular Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Clerkship is feasible and leads to substantial growth of clinical competence in undergraduate dental students.

中文翻译：

---

虚拟患者与小规模教学在口腔颌面外科手术培训中的比较：一项随机对照试验。

背景技术计算机化的虚拟患者（VP）已经扩散到医疗保健提供和医学教育的许多领域。它们具有各种优势，例如学习速度和空间的灵活性，高度的教学可重复性和成本效益。但是，VP作为传统教学形式的补充或替代的教育收益仍然不清楚。此外，还没有随机对照研究调查了在牙科课程中使用VP的情况。因此，本研究调查了在课程，随机和受控环境下，VP是由讲师主导的小组教学的一种替代方法。方法随机对照队列研究。根据先前发布的设计原则创建了四个VP案例，并将其与法兰克福歌德大学颅颌，口腔和颌面整形外科系的口腔与颌面外科业务中由讲师领导的小组教学（SGT）进行了比较， 德国。临床干预前（T0），直接（T1）和干预后6周（T2）使用理论测试和自我评估问卷测量临床能力。此外，使用经过验证的工具包评估了VP设计。结果五十七名学生（VP = 32； SGT = 25）同意参加该研究。在T0时没有发现能力差异（p = 0.56）。在T1时，VP组的表现优于（P <.0001）SGT组。在T2，两组之间没有差异（p = 0.55）。两种干预措施均导致自我评估能力的显着提高。VP小组为诊断和治疗实际患者做好了更好的准备，并将VP案例视为一种有益的学习经历。结论就短期和长期的学习效果以及自我评估的能力增长和学生满意度而言，VP案例是课堂教学SGT的有效替代方法。此外，将VP病例整合到口腔口腔颌面外科秘书中是可行的，并导致牙科专业本科生的临床能力大幅提高。结论就短期和长期的学习效果以及自我评估的能力增长和学生满意度而言，VP案例是课堂教学SGT的有效替代方法。此外，将VP病例整合到口腔口腔颌面外科秘书中是可行的，并导致牙科专业本科生的临床能力大幅提高。结论就短期和长期的学习效果以及自我评估的能力增长和学生满意度而言，VP案例是课堂教学SGT的有效替代方法。此外，将VP病例整合到口腔口腔颌面外科秘书中是可行的，并导致牙科专业本科生的临床能力大幅提高。