Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Enhancing Cancer Truth-Telling Perspectives Using Virtual Reality in Communication Skills Training: An Experimental Study Among Medical Students Cover

Enhancing Cancer Truth-Telling Perspectives Using Virtual Reality in Communication Skills Training: An Experimental Study Among Medical Students

Open Access
|Sep 2025

References

  1. Edgar L, McLean S, Hogan S, Hamstra S, Holmboe E. The Milestones Guidebook. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). 2020 https://www.acgme.org/Portals/0/MilestonesGuidebook.pdf (accessed 26 December 2024).
  2. Baile WF, Buckman R, Lenzi R, Glober G, Beale EA, Kudelka AP. SPIKES-A six-step protocol for delivering bad news: application to the patient with cancer. Oncologist. 2000;5(4):30211. DOI: 10.1634/theoncologist.5-4-302
  3. Tang WR, Hong JH, Rau KM, Wang CH, Juang YY, Lai CH, et al. Truth telling in Taiwanese cancer care: patients’ and families’ preferences and their experiences of doctors’ practices. Psycho-Oncology. 2017;26(7):9991005. DOI: 10.1002/pon.4257
  4. Gelis A, Cervello S, Rey R, Llorca G, Lambert P, Franck N, et al. Peer role-play for training communication skills in medical students: a systematic review. Simul Healthc. 2020;15(2):10611. DOI: 10.1097/SIH.0000000000000412
  5. Cleland JA, Abe K, Rethans JJ. The use of simulated patients in medical education: AMEE Guide No 42. Med Teach. 2009;31(6):47786. DOI: 10.1080/01421590903002821
  6. Jabeen D. Use of simulated patients for assessment of communication skills in undergraduate medical education in obstetrics and gynaecology. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2013;23(1):169.
  7. Fujimori M, Shirai Y, Asai M, Akizuki N, Katsumata N, Kubota K, et al. Development and preliminary evaluation of communication skills training program for oncologists based on patient preferences for communicating bad news. Palliat Support Care. 2014;12(5):37986. DOI: 10.1017/S147895151300031X
  8. Fujimori M, Shirai Y, Asai M, Kubota K, Katsumata N, Uchitomi Y. Effect of communication skills training program for oncologists based on patient preferences for communication when receiving bad news: a randomized controlled trial. J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(20):216672. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2013.51.2756
  9. Ftouni R, AlJardali B, Hamdanieh M, Ftouni L, Salem N. Challenges of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2022;22(1):207. DOI: 10.1186/s12911-022-01952-0
  10. Radianti J, Majchrzak TA, Fromm J, Wohlgenannt I. A systematic review of immersive virtual reality applications for higher education: Design elements, lessons learned, and research agenda. Comput Educ. 2020;147:103778. DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103778
  11. Pottle J. Virtual reality and the transformation of medical education. Future Healthc J. 2019;6(3):1815. DOI: 10.7861/fhj.2019-0036
  12. Farra SL, Gneuhs M, Hodgson E, Kawosa B, Miller ET, Simon A, et al. Comparative cost of virtual reality training and live exercises for training hospital workers for evacuation. Comput Inform Nurs. 2019;37(9):44654. DOI: 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000540
  13. Ratten V. The post COVID-19 pandemic era: Changes in teaching and learning methods for management educators. Int J Manag Educ. 2023 Jul;21(2):100777. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijme.2023.100777
  14. Beres LK, Simbeza S, Holmes CB, Mwamba C, Mukamba N, Sharma A, et al. Human-centered design lessons for implementation science: improving the implementation of a patient-centered care intervention. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2019;82 Suppl 3(3):S230s43. DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002216
  15. Carter J, Bababekov YJ, Majmudar MD. Training for our digital future: a human-centered design approach to graduate medical education for aspiring clinician-innovators. npj Digital Medicine. 2018;1(1):26. DOI: 10.1038/s41746-018-0034-4
  16. Javaid M, Haleem A. Virtual reality applications toward medical field. Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2020;8(2):6005. DOI: 10.1016/j.cegh.2019.12.010
  17. Liaw SY, Ooi SW, Rusli KDB, Lau TC, Tam WWS, Chua WL. Nurse-physician communication team training in virtual reality versus live simulations: randomized controlled trial on team communication and teamwork attitudes. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(4):e17279. DOI: 10.2196/17279
  18. Liaw SY, Soh SL, Tan KK, Wu LT, Yap J, Chow YL, et al. Design and evaluation of a 3D virtual environment for collaborative learning in interprofessional team care delivery. Nurse Educ Today. 2019;81:6471. DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2019.06.012
  19. Real FJ, DeBlasio D, Beck AF, Ollberding NJ, Davis D, Cruse B, et al. A virtual reality curriculum for pediatric residents decreases rates of influenza vaccine refusal. Acad Pediatr. 2017;17(4):4315. DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2017.01.010
  20. Real FJ, DeBlasio D, Ollberding NJ, Davis D, Cruse B, McLinden D, et al. Resident perspectives on communication training that utilizes immersive virtual reality. Educ Health (Abingdon). 2017;30(3):22831. DOI: 10.4103/efh.EfH_9_17
  21. Tang WR, Chen KY, Hsu SH, Juang YY, Chiu SC, Hsiao SC, et al. Effectiveness of Japanese SHARE model in improving Taiwanese healthcare personnel’s preference for cancer truth telling. Psycho-Oncology. 2014;23(3):25965. DOI: 10.1002/pon.5629
  22. Tang WR, Fang JT, Fang CK, Fujimori M. Truth telling in medical practice: students’ opinions versus their observations of attending physicians’ clinical practice. Psycho-Oncology. 2013;22(7):160510. DOI: 10.1002/pon.3174
  23. Dewey J. Experience and education. New York: Simon and Schuster; 1938.
  24. Kolb DA. Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development (2 ed). London, England: Pearson Education Limited; 2015.
  25. Gillan PC, van der Riet PJ, Jeong S. End of life care education, past and present: a review of the literature. Nurse Educ Today. 2014;34(3):33142. DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2013.06.009
  26. Kurtz SM, Silverman J, Draper J. Teaching and learning communication skills in medicine. Oxford, England: Radcliffe Pub; 2005.
  27. Fujimori M, Parker PA, Akechi T, Sakano Y, Baile WF, Uchitomi Y. Japanese cancer patients’ communication style preferences when receiving bad news. Psycho-Oncology. 2007;16(7):61725. DOI: 10.1002/pon.1102
  28. Chen SH, Chen SY, Yang SC, Chien RN, Chen SH, Chu TP, et al. Effectiveness of communication skill training on cancer truth-telling for advanced practice nurses in Taiwan: A pilot study. Psycho-Oncology. 2021;30(5):76572. DOI: 10.1002/pon.5629
  29. Zapko KA, Ferranto MLG, Blasiman R, Shelestak D. Evaluating best educational practices, student satisfaction, and self-confidence in simulation: a descriptive study. Nurse Educ Today. 2018;60:2834. DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2017.09.006
  30. Chan JCK, Fong DYT, Tang JJ, Pui Gay K, Hui J. The Chinese student satisfaction and self-confidence scale is reliable and valid. Clin Simul Nurs. 2015;11(5):27883. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecns.2015.03.003
  31. Johnson KV, Scott AL, Franks L. Impact of standardized patients on first semester nursing students self-confidence, satisfaction, and communication in a simulated clinical case. SAGE Open Nurs. 2020;6:2377960820930153. DOI: 10.1177/2377960820930153
  32. Bloomfield JG, O’Neill B, Gillett K. Enhancing student communication during end-of-life care: a pilot study. Palliat Support Care. 2015;13(6):165161. DOI: 10.1017/S147895151500022X
  33. Erickson JM, Blackhall L, Brashers V, Varhegyi N. An interprofessional workshop for students to improve communication and collaboration skills in end-of-life care. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2015;32(8):87680. DOI: 10.1177/1049909114549954
  34. Chang E, Kim HT, Yoo B. Virtual reality sickness: a review of causes and measurements. Int J Hum–Comput Interact. 2020;36(17):165882. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2020.1778351
  35. Saredakis D, Szpak A, Birckhead B, Keage HAD, Rizzo A, Loetscher T. Factors associated with virtual reality sickness in head-mounted displays: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Hum Neurosci. 2020;14:96. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00096
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/pme.1684 | Journal eISSN: 2212-277X
Language: English
Submitted on: Jan 6, 2025
|
Accepted on: Jul 25, 2025
|
Published on: Sep 10, 2025
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2025 Shih-Ying Chen, Ji-Tseng Fang, Ming-Ju Hsieh, Che-Wei Lin, Heng-Hsin Tung, Maiko Fujimori, Woung-Ru Tang, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.