Integrating Simulation-Based Learning in Clinical Skills Training: Impact on Medical Student Competency

Background: Simulation-based learning (SBL) is a new and innovative approach that improves the clinical skills of medical students by allowing standardized training and immediate feedback in comparison to existing methods. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the SBL on the competency of medical students in the core clinical skills. Methods: This collaborative study was a randomized controlled study carried out between September and December 2024 at Superior University and involved a sample of 120 third-year medical students. The sample was chosen through a non-probability consecutive sampling method and randomly divided into two groups. Group A had conventional clinical training, whereas Group B had simulation-based activities, whereby included the use of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) -based scenarios, high-fidelity manikins, and standardized patients. OSCE score and self-reported confidence surveys were included as pre- and post-intervention assessments. Statistical analysis was done on SPSS version 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results: The OSCE scores that were calculated post-intervention were much better in Group B than in Group A (p = 0.002), with statistically significant tests reporting that improvement was most notable in terms of procedural and communicative error avoidance set. The level of group B confidence in history taking (p = 0.001), physical examination (p = 0.002), communication (p = 0.001), and procedural skills (p = 0.001) was also significantly higher. Conclusion: Simulation-based learning proved to be effective in improving objective clinical performances as well as the self-perceived performance among medical students.