Enhancing professional communication training in higher education through artificial intelligence(AI)-integrated exercises: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Journal: BMC medical education
Published Date: May 30, 2025

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Effective communication skills are fundamental for health care professionals, yet conventional training methods face challenges in scalability and accessibility due to resource constraints. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, offers innovative ways for enhancing communication skills training by simulating realistic conversational scenarios and providing personalised, adaptive feedback. This manuscript is presented as study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial that aims at evaluating the efficacy of an AI-supported higher education training protocol incorporating generative AI exercises to enhance communication competencies among psychology students.

Authors

  • Gunther Meinlschmidt
    Division of Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, International Psychoanalytic University (IPU) Berlin, Berlin, Germany. meinlschmidt@uni-trier.de.
  • Sara Koc
    Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy - Methods and Approaches, Trier University, Universitaetsring 15, Trier, 54296, Germany.
  • Emma Boerner
    Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy - Methods and Approaches, Trier University, Universitaetsring 15, Trier, 54296, Germany.
  • Marion Tegethoff
    Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany. Electronic address: marion.tegethoff@unibas.ch.
  • Thomas Simacek
    Department of Psychology, Educational Psychology, Trier University, Trier, Germany.
  • Liam Schirmer
    Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy - Methods and Approaches, Trier University, Universitaetsring 15, Trier, 54296, Germany.
  • Michael Schneider
    Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Clinic Erlangen, Comprehensive Cancer Center Erlangen-EMN (CCC ER-EMN), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.

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