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. 2023 Dec;28(1):2272387.
doi: 10.1080/10872981.2023.2272387. Epub 2023 Oct 26.

The status of virtual simulation experiments in medical education in China: based on the national virtual simulation experiment teaching Center (iLAB-X)

Hui Zhu  1 , Jin Xu  2   3 , Penghao Wang  2 , Hongyi Liu  2 , Tao Chen  2 , Zhijia Zhao  2 , Lindan Ji  3   4
Affiliations

The status of virtual simulation experiments in medical education in China: based on the national virtual simulation experiment teaching Center (iLAB-X)

Hui Zhu et al. Med Educ Online. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Virtual simulation experiments have been rapidly applied to medical education curricula in recent years. China constructed a national virtual simulation experimental teaching center (iLAB-X), and this platform covered almost all of the virtual simulation experiment curricula of domestic colleges or universities. We aimed to comprehensively assess the characteristics and usages of virtual simulation experiments in medical education based on iLAB-X.

Methods: A total of 480 virtual simulation experiment courses had been constructed on iLAB-X (https://www.ilab-x.com/) by December 20, 2022, and the curriculum level, type and design were all searched in this platform. We also conducted an evaluation of curriculum usage and online tests, including the page view, frequency of participation, number of participants, duration of experimental learning and passing rate of the experimental test.

Results: The national and provincial high-quality virtual simulation experiment curricula accounted for 33.5% (161/480) and 35.8% (172/480), respectively. The curricula were mainly set as basic practice experiments (46.5%) and synthetic designing experiments (48.8%). Significantly, forensic medicine (100%), public health and preventive medicine (83%) and basic medical sciences (66%) focused on synthetic design experiments. In terms of usage experiments, the average duration of experimental learning was 25 minutes per course, and the average number of participants was just 1257. The average passing (score ≥60) rate of online tests was 80.6%, but the average rate of score ≥ 85 was only 58.5%. In particular, the average page views, the number of participants, the duration of learning and the test passing rate of clinical medicine were relatively low.

Conclusions: The curriculum design features, construction level and utilization rate varied in different medical majors. Virtual simulation experiments are particularly underutilized in clinical medicine. There is a long way for virtual simulation experiments to go to become a supplement or alternative for traditional medical education in the future.

Keywords: Virtual simulation experiments; iLAB-X; medical education; online education.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The percentage of virtual simulation experiments in different medical majors.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The frequency distributions of high-quality national and provincial virtual simulation experiment curricula among medical majors.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The average knowledge points and covered course of virtual simulation experiments.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
The percentage of basic practice experiments and synthetic design experiments of virtual simulation experiments.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
The percentage of foundation courses and professional courses of virtual simulation experiments.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Evaluation of curriculum usage of virtual simulation experiments (a) The average page views of virtual simulation experiments. (b) The average number of participants and frequency of participation in virtual simulation experiments. (c) The average duration of virtual simulation experiment learning. (d) The results of the online test of virtual simulation experiments.
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