Virtual Patient Simulation: Training Pre-Health Professionals in Suicide Risk Prevention
Abstract
The use of simulators and simulation training has become standard practice for students in medical and pre-health programs, including but not limited to, clinical and counseling disciplines in pre-health education. Students train and sharpen their skills using this technology to prepare them for real-life encounters with future patients (Berman, Durning, Fischer, Huwendiek, & Triola, 2016). One possible encounter, a suicidal patient, is a challenge that most counselors or therapists are not prepared for, causing stress and affecting their confidence. The literature describes how treating clients/patients with suicidal ideation and behavior is stressful for even the most experienced mental health professional (Farberow, 2005; Foster & McAdams, 1999; Gulfi et al., 2010; Mirick et al., 2016; Osteen et al., 2014; Smith et al., 2015). This challenge has been addressed by education programs using standardized patients to recreate similar encounters, which can lead to an increase in confidence and self-efficacy (Fallucco, Hanson, & Glowinski, 2010). However, the use of standardized patients is not feasible in all cases. One solution is virtual patient simulation as a complement to traditional face-to-face lectures and training. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of virtual patient simulation on self-efficacy levels when students are faced with a suicide risk scenario. This quantitative study relied on the collection of data from pre-health professional students (n=111) and involved the testing of hypotheses following published self-efficacy and education literature. The hypotheses were tested using a factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA), a factorial analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and a bivariate correlation analysis among the intervention groups. The results of the ANOVA and ANCOVA did not indicate a significant result for differences amongst the intervention groups. However, the results of the bivariate correlation analysis indicated a significant relationship (p
Subject Area
Curriculum development|Educational technology
Recommended Citation
Fajardo, Francisco Javier, "Virtual Patient Simulation: Training Pre-Health Professionals in Suicide Risk Prevention" (2019). ProQuest ETD Collection for FIU. AAI28315736.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/dissertations/AAI28315736