Challenges and Opportunities of using Role-players in Medical Education: Medical Educator’s Perspective

Abstract

Introduction: Roleplaying is getting popular in modern education. Role-players are trained to act specific roles in clinical situations and interact with medical students in the simulation of real-clinical scenarios. Educators used Role-players wisely especially in restricted situation of Covid Era. There are many opportunities in using Role-players such as creating clinical situation, practicing communication skill, cost-effectiveness, saving the time, comfortable learning environment for learners, encouraging students to learn. Aim: Current study aims to explore challenges and opportunities in roleplaying in medical education. Method: This is a reflective writing about the role-play in medical education. The authors reflect on their collective experiences with the review of literatures and describe their educational encounters in various aspects of challenges and opportunities of using role-players in medical education vividly. All authors have been involved in medical education for at least five years and have used role play to teach undergraduate students. The authors reflect on their role-playing experiences in various phases and modules, such as pre-clinical teaching, clinical case discussion, creative online clinical consultation, and clinical assessment studies. Several identified subject headings were used to group the common experiences, with an emphasis on addressing the challenges and opportunities in advancing the use of role-playing in medical education. The study search engine mage use of key points for its search such as, need for training of role-players, uncertain availability of role-players for certain teaching class and exams, need for specific age of role-players in definite clinical scenarios, some difficulties in recruitment of new role-players, preparation of clinical scenarios, student engagement, further collected information and data are descriptively stated. Conclusion: Modern educators are trying to improve the roleplaying education. By enhancing opportunities to use Role-players in medical education, the soft skills of medical students such as cooperation in teamwork, negotiation and persuasion can be upgraded. These skills are essential skill for medical students to contribute as a health care provider in community. The study summarises the numerous ways to overcome the challenges and highlighted that educators has significance role to make sure student receive all information of their task. This study brings out the value attached to clinical scenarios that are well prepared as a real-world event and suggests that reflection taken from role-players and students to improve future roleplaying class. This study contributes to enhancing emergency preparedness and response working as a part of role-playing education. The educators' effort to improve role-playing education by enhancing opportunities for using role-players in medical education can upgrade the soft skills of medical students, such as cooperation in teamwork, negotiation, and persuasion. These skills are essential for medical students to contribute as health care providers in the community.