An intelligent clinical skills learning community integrated with digital information technology to improve clinical competency among medical students

By integrating modern information technology into clinical skills teaching and learning, thereby constructing a smart clinical skills learning community. Classes 1 and 2 of the 2020, whose majors were clinical medicine, were selected as the experimental group and underwent teaching reform based on the intelligent clinical skills learning community. Classes 1 and 2 of the 2019 were served as the control group and received traditional teaching. The reform methods included: enriching teaching resources with modern information technology, integrating virtual and real scenarios in basic, specialized, and comprehensive skills training, combined with simulation-based teaching, task-driven approach, CBL, PBL, and TBL, transforming learning methods through information technology, and integrating information technology into assessment and evaluation. A questionnaire survey was used to compare course satisfaction, learning motivation, clinical skills scores, and graduation skills exam results between the two groups. The experimental group showed significantly higher scores than the control group in course satisfaction (9.05 ± 0.07 vs. 7.21 ± 0.09), stimulation of learning interest and motivation (9.17 ± 0.07 vs. 7.47 ± 0.09), and promotion of autonomous learning (9.16 ± 0.07 vs. 7.65 ± 0.09) ( P < 0.001). The clinical skills score of the experimental group (92.73 ± 0.56) was also significantly higher than that of the control group (86.93 ± 1.01) ( P < 0.001). After internship, the experimental group outperformed the control group in clinical competency dimensions such as clinical skills improvement (9.05 ± 0.08 vs. 8.08 ± 0.10), clinical thinking (9.08 ± 0.07 vs. 8.17 ± 0.08), and doctor-patient communication (9.44 ± 0.05 vs. 8.31 ± 0.09) ( P < 0.001). In the graduation skills exam, the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores in all components compared to the control group ( P < 0.001). The intelligent clinical skills learning community effectively expands learning time and space, stimulates learning interest, improves clinical skills and thinking ability, and significantly enhances medical students’ clinical competency.