AI patients help students around the world practice empathy
New virtual reality clinic gives future health care providers the chance to fine-tune their bedside manner through online interactions before encountering real patients.
Christina Nguyen, a first-year medical student at the U of A, said the virtual clinic is particularly useful because it gives students from different disciplines the chance to practice building rapport with patients in a low-risk setting.
Photo by Noelle Haro-Gomez, U of A Health Sciences Office of Communications
At 76 years old, Liang Chen has tried to age gracefully and thoughtfully.
He doesn’t use tobacco, sips only the occasional glass of wine and had grab bars installed in his single-story home. Despite osteoarthritis in his hands and knees, Chen has always made a point of exercising, at the very least getting outside and walking daily. Lately, though, his knees and hands feel too stiff to work properly. He hasn’t fallen, but he worries it’s just a matter of time after two near misses.
Margie Arnett, MS, got the idea for the virtual clinic after attending a national symposium.
Photo by Joe Arnett, U of A Health Sciences BioCommunications
This condition is what brought him to the clinic in search of help.
Chen’s issues are very real. Chen himself is not.
He is one of 26 virtual patients in the waiting room of the University of Arizona Center for Transformative Interprofessional Healthcare’s Virtual Outpatient Clinic. Chen’s not there for a medical diagnosis so much as to give U of A health sciences students the chance to practice their communication skills. The simulated scenarios in a low-stakes, AI-powered virtual clinic allow the students to have plenty of practice before they provide care in real life.
Practicing empathy
The clinic debuted this past fall. Margie Arnett, MS, director of the U of A’s Center for Transformative Interprofessional Healthcare, was inspired to create the tool after seeing a similar one at a national symposium.
“The Virtual Outpatient Clinic responds to growing recognition in health professions education that empathic communication does not reliably develop through clinical exposure alone, and that learners benefit from intentionally designed opportunities to practice and refine these skills early,” said Arnett, who partnered with Jayaram Timsina, an enterprise architect with the U of A’s University Information Technology Services iDX team. “It treats empathic communication not as an innate trait, but as a foundational clinical skill that can be developed and supported across professions and institutions.”
Students from around the world can use the U of A’s free Virtual Outpatient Clinic, which is available in more than 90 languages.
Photo by Noelle Haro-Gomez, U of A Health Sciences Office of Communications
Clinic users can choose from a variety of patients with assorted ailments — even a furry, four-legged one suffering from weight loss and low energy that allows veterinary students to practice their communication skills with a pet parent. Once users have selected a patient, they type with a chatbot. At the end of the “exam,” users receive feedback on their interpersonal skills.
The wide range of cases is great because it can be used for so many different disciplines, said Christina Nguyen, a first-year medical student at the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson.
“It’s really helpful,” said Nguyen, who will be part of an upcoming pilot study that will look at ways to improve the tool. “I think more people should know about it.”
Helping beyond campus
Lisa Kiser, DNP, CNM, WHNP, an associate clinical professor in the School of Health Professions at the U of A Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, said the clinic is a critical tool to prepare students on the path to caring for people.
“It really does create the opportunity to interact with patients in a safe way and begin to really learn therapeutic communication and empathy,” Kiser said. “You develop effective listening and effective responses and do that in a safe way before you’re actually sitting in front of someone.”
At the U of A’s Virtual Outpatient Clinic, students can choose from a variety of virtual patients with different ailments and “chat” with them to practice their communication skills.
What’s particularly unique about this clinic is that it’s free and available in more than 90 languages, so it’s not only accessible to U of A students but also to learners across the world.
“AI is here to serve our communities and our students, and we are offering this to other people in other countries that may not have the technology or the resources to develop it for themselves,” Kiser said.
Students said the clinic allows them to practice what can be difficult conversations in a low-stress, low-pressure situation.
“It can be hard to talk about tobacco cessation, for example, when you have never smoked,” Nguyen said.
Meghan Beatty, a student in the U of A College of Nursing’s Master of Science – Entry to the Profession of Nursing program, was able to test the clinic while interning at the center. She said practicing in the virtual realm made it much easier to work with real patients.
“It made me less nervous because I was able to get feedback on all my interactions, allowing me to get better,” she said.
While the virtual clinic is in its infancy, Arnett has big plans for the future.
“In five years, I see the Virtual Outpatient Clinic as a widely adopted platform, expanded with more cases,” she said. “Ideally, I’d love to find funding to include audio and video capabilities.”