The training

A training session takes a few minutes and runs like a phone call: students speak, the virtual simulated person answers in real time and stays in character, with its worries, its prior knowledge and its way of reacting.

Scenarios

Each scenario describes a conversation situation, a role and a learning objective. The range extends from medical consultations to conversations outside medicine: the principle is transferable.

Medical communication

Explaining a medical report after a fracture
Explaining a shoulder X-ray report
History taking in general practice
Dealing with emotional parents
Cognitive impairment

Further fields of application

Journalistic interview on polypharmacy
Emergency call at a control room
First contact at the student advisory service
Feeling overwhelmed by studies

Further scenarios are being developed continuously, together with teaching staff from the respective fields.

Five dimensions of communication

Feedback follows a competency framework developed at SCoLa. Each dimension is assessed individually, justified and supported by a quote from the conversation.

Structure: Is the conversation led recognisably? Are phases announced, interim results summarised and a clear conclusion set?
Exploration: Are the other person’s prior knowledge, expectations, worries and everyday context explored?
Relationship: Are feelings reflected and empathic responses given?
Information: Is content conveyed comprehensibly, in measured doses and in plain language, and is understanding actively checked?
Decision: Are options, preferences and feasibility discussed and agreed together?

To clarify

The descriptions of the five dimensions are derived from the feedback texts of the application. They must be reviewed by the SCoLa team before publication and, if necessary, replaced by the framework’s original definitions.

What students receive after the conversation

An overall assessment with a percentage and a brief rationale
A rating for each dimension, each with a rationale and a verbatim quote from the learner’s own conversation
Concrete recommendations for the next training session, tied to specific phrasings
A competency profile that shows the learner’s development across all training sessions and compares it with a reference group

Example card from the feedback

Information

72%

You translated the report into everyday language and explained it in small steps. You checked understanding once, but only at the end of the conversation.

„Radius ist die Speiche, einer der beiden Unterarmknochen. Distal heißt: nah am Handgelenk.“

For the next training session:Check understanding earlier, for example after the first technical term: “Which of this should I explain differently?”

Re-created example card. Values and text are fictitious and must be replaced by an anonymised real example before publication.

A complement, not a replacement

Training with real simulated persons remains the core of communication education. It captures body language, relationship dynamics and immediate human reaction; no software can do that. VirtualSP comes before it: for the repetitions the course schedule has no room for, and for practising without an audience. Students arrive better prepared for their encounters with real simulated persons.

What VirtualSP makes possible

Unlimited repetitions
Training independent of place and time
Practising without listeners and without embarrassment
Immediate, criteria-based feedback
Traceable development over time