Evaluation of simulation methods for teaching peripheral arterial examination to medical students

Abstract

Physical examination is a critical component of medical practice yet the focus on efficient patient turnover has impacted the availability of patients with clinical findings willing to be examined by students and skills' teaching is not consistent across clinical rotations. This work evaluates simulation methodologies for teaching of the peripheral arterial examination and evaluates whether skills learnt are transferable to clinical practice.Second-year medical students were taught peripheral arterial examination on a SimMan 3G or with simulated patients (SPs). Both groups were assessed by Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) with outpatients who have been diagnosed with peripheral arterial disease.There was no difference in the pass rate at OSCE between the two groups. SimMan better facilitated repeated practice, group learning, peer teaching and discussion, which were highly valued by the students. Students felt that the SImMan tutorial did not facilitate development of spatial cognition or pattern recognition. They also felt less well prepared to deal with real patients in terms of having practised appropriate language, issuing instructions and attempting to reassure patients.Both methods of simulation teaching have distinct merits and the ideal approach maybe to use the SimMan in combination with SPs.

Can simulation-based education replace the hands-on experience learning during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“…SBE is an innovative method enabling the development of clinical skills in a risk-free environment, now used to supplement the clinical skills among undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. Planned learning opportunities are devised for students to practice clinical skills and procedural skills on simulators that can be transformed into clinical practice later 1,2,4,6 . Some of the benefits of a new approach to clinical teaching in undergraduate medicine include:  Flexibility for both students and clinicians in terms of when and where clinical learning can occur, a significant emphasis on active and experiential learning, and increased generalization, standardization and integration of learning.…”