Abstract
BackgroundThe rapid increase in the number of patients with diverse ethnic backgrounds and previous exposure to severe mental trauma dictates the need for improvement in the quality of transcultural psychiatric health care through the development of relevant and effective training tools.ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the impact of training with a virtual patient on the learner’s knowledge of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, clinical management, and basic communication skills.MethodsThe authors constructed an interactive educational tool based on virtual patient methodology that portrayed a refugee with severe symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. A total of 32 resident psychiatrists tested the tool and completed a pre-interaction and post-interaction knowledge test, including skills, at the time and several weeks later.ResultsAll of the participants (N=32) completed the pre-interaction and post-interaction test, and 26 (81%) of them completed the online follow-up test. The mean pre-interaction score was 7.44 (male: 7.08, female: 7.65, no statistical significance). The mean post-interaction score was 8.47, which was significantly higher (P<.001) than the pre-interaction score (mean score 7.44). The mean score for the follow-up test several weeks later was 8.38, higher than the pre-interaction score by 0.69 points but not statistically significant.ConclusionsOur results suggest that virtual patients can successfully facilitate the acquisition of core knowledge in the field of psychiatry, in addition to developing skills such as clinical reasoning, decision making, and history taking. Repeated training sessions with virtual patients are proposed in order to achieve sustainable educational effects.
Highlights
In 2012, forced population displacement continued to affect large numbers of people worldwide
Some 35.8 million persons were of concern to UNHCR by end 2012, the second highest number on record.(3) Of this figure, 17.7 million were internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 10.5 million were refugees - 2.3 million people more than in 2011
Statelessness is estimated to have affected at least 10 million people in 2012; data captured by governments and communicated to UNHCR were limited to 3.3 million stateless individuals in 72 countries
Summary
An estimated 7.6 million people were newly displaced due to conflict or persecution, including 1.1 million new refugees - the highest number of new arrivals in one year since 1999. Another 6.5 million people were newly displaced within the borders of their countries - the second highest figure of the past ten years.(2). Conflict and persecution forced an average of 23,000 persons per day to leave their homes and seek protection elsewhere, either within the borders of their countries or in other countries
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