Getting by with a little help from avatar friends: Use of AI-powered avatars to implement feedback training for faculty.
Journal:
Medical teacher
Published Date:
Jul 17, 2025
Abstract
Delivering feedback is a critical skill that remains widely underdeveloped among medical educators. Faculty development in this area has traditionally relied on lectures and in-person workshops, limiting access, scalability, and opportunities for experiential learning. Implementing practical technology-driven solutions that support experiential learning can expand access to simulation-based learning, fostering broader adoption and continued development of this key skill. We piloted a one and a half hour in-person faculty development workshop to gauge perceived benefit and interest in utilizing avatar-driven feedback training. Participants were introduced to key elements of delivering effective feedback and then given time to practice applying those skills with an AI-powered avatar. Faculty worked through three separate scenarios in which the avatar played the role of a medical student and faculty were tasked with delivering feedback using the Ask-Tell-Ask model previously introduced. After each scenario, the avatar provided feedback to the faculty member using a pre-defined feedback delivery rubric. According to post-workshop feedback from participants, faculty unanimously agreed that the session was effective, engaging, realistic, improved their ability to give constructive feedback, resulted in new skills applicable to real-life interactions, and would be of value to their peers. Plans are underway to enhance the realism of the avatar interaction and to transition the educational session into an asynchronous modality to enhance opportunities for scalability, accessibility, just-in-time training, and personalized education.
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