Proposal of a new evaluation grid and literature review of virtual patient simulator in medical school

Healthcare education differs greatly among countries. A balance between theoretical and practical teaching is currently under pressure. Virtual patient training allows medical students to maintain clinical conditions in a safe environment. A literature review with PRISMA guidelines was performed by searching for studies that used mixed teaching methods and selecting virtual patient software integrated into traditional medical schools. The goal of this study was to propose a new ad hoc evaluation grid to correctly assess student behaviour, learning and performance. Unlike conventional grading systems, the system adopted in our center is activity focused and objective oriented and concentrates on the direct influence of the simulation activity on students. The initial grid was inspired from AMEE 2013 workshop focused on competency based medical education (CBME) and was tailored to our teaching system together with internal consensus among professors. The new grid targets specific activities and objectively assesses all necessary student skills, ensuring ease of implementation without consuming excessive time, thereby rendering the evaluation method feasible, applicable, and replicable. Our study underlined the need for evaluation grids to improve university teaching by facilitating not only learning but also promoting the academic performance and professional skills of future doctors. Our grid can help other universities standardize student evaluation, improving medical preparation.