VirtualSP
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VirtualSP

Practise communication as often as it takes.

VirtualSP is a training platform of the Medical School OWL. Students hold free conversations with virtual simulated persons and receive structured feedback on their communication immediately afterwards.

Listen to the demo conversationRequest trial access

Hear it for yourself

An excerpt from the scenario “Explaining a medical report after a fracture”. The conversation was re-enacted for this demonstration; in a training session, students speak freely and in real time.

Re-enacted example conversation

Explaining a medical report after a fracture

1:20 min

Timeline of the example conversation: speaking turns of the learner and the virtual simulated person, plus four events of the director in the background.

The director listens in, recognises conversation phases and gives the learner hints that only they can see.

  1. Follow-up question detected0:24
  2. Coach hint0:45

    Coach: visible to the learner only

    Check understanding earlier: right after the first technical term, not only at the end.

  3. Occupation is now mentioned0:54
  4. Coach hint1:06

    Coach: visible to the learner only

    Well picked up. At the end, agree on who will follow up on the question about work.

Transcript

The example conversation is in German.

  1. 0:00LearnerGuten Tag, Frau Kolbe. Mein Name ist Lisa Wagner, ich bin Studentin im Praktischen Jahr. Ich möchte mit Ihnen den Bericht zu Ihrem Handgelenk durchgehen.
  2. 0:09Virtual simulated personJa, gern. Ehrlich gesagt habe ich beim Lesen nicht viel verstanden.
  3. 0:14LearnerDas kann ich gut nachvollziehen, der Bericht ist in Fachsprache geschrieben. Darf ich fragen, was Sie beim Lesen am meisten beschäftigt hat?
  4. 0:23Virtual simulated personDa steht „distale Radiusfraktur“. Ist das ein glatter Bruch oder ist da etwas kaputtgegangen?
  5. 0:31LearnerIch erkläre es Ihnen Schritt für Schritt. Radius ist die Speiche, einer der beiden Unterarmknochen. Distal heißt: nah am Handgelenk.
  6. 0:42Virtual simulated personAlso der Knochen direkt unterm Handgelenk.
  7. 0:46LearnerGenau so ist es. Der Bruch verläuft quer und die Bruchenden stehen nicht gegeneinander verschoben. Das ist die günstige Form.
  8. 0:56Virtual simulated personUnd wie lange trage ich den Gips? Ich arbeite an der Kasse, ohne die Hand geht da nichts.
  9. 1:04LearnerDas ist ein wichtiger Punkt für Ihren Alltag. In der Regel sind es vier bis sechs Wochen. Wie Sie in dieser Zeit arbeiten können, sollten wir gemeinsam mit Ihrer Ärztin besprechen.
  10. 1:16Virtual simulated personDas wäre mir sehr recht.

How a training session works

  1. Choose a scenario

    Students start one of the released scenarios, for instance explaining an X-ray report or a first consultation at the student advisory service.

  2. Hold the conversation

    They speak freely with the virtual simulated person, as in a phone call. The person answers in real time and stays in character.

  3. Receive feedback

    Immediately afterwards, the conversation is assessed along five competency dimensions, with quotes from the learner’s own conversation and recommendations for the next session.

In regular use, not in a lab trial

  • > 950

    completed training sessions

  • 190

    registered users

  • 9

    scenarios in use

  • Part of the curriculum

    at the Medical School OWL

As of: September 2026

Who it is for

  • For teaching staff

    Use VirtualSP in your own course. We set up trial access and support the first run.

    For teaching staff

  • For research and funding

    Impact model, data basis and publications on the project.

    Research & impact

  • For students

    Does your university already use VirtualSP?

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Designed responsibly

VirtualSP is developed and operated at the Medical School OWL. Training sessions are a protected practice space: there are no listeners, no grading and no disclosure of individual results. How we handle conversation data is explained in the privacy notice.

Privacy notice
To clarify

The statements “no listeners”, “no grading” and “no disclosure of individual results” must be checked against the platform’s actual permission and evaluation logic before publication. Teaching staff and tutors have roles in the system.