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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Humanities and Social Sciences
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1504598

Introducing AI-Generated Cases (AI-cases) & Standardized Clients (AI-SCs) in Communication Training for Veterinary Students: Perceptions and Adoption Challenges

Provisionally accepted
Elpida Artemiou Elpida Artemiou 1*Sarah Hooper Sarah Hooper 2Linda Dascanio Linda Dascanio 1Marcelo Schmidt Marcelo Schmidt 1Guy Gilbert Guy Gilbert 1*
  • 1 School of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Amarillo, United States
  • 2 Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into medical education and healthcare has grown steadily over these past couple of years, though its application in veterinary education and practice remains relatively underexplored. This study is among the first to introduce veterinary students to AI-generated cases (AI-cases) and AI-standardized clients (AI-SCs) for teaching and learning communication skills. The study aimed to evaluate students’ beliefs and perceptions surrounding the use of AI in veterinary education, with specific focus on communication skills training. Conducted at Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine (TTU SVM) during the Spring 2024 semester, the study included pre-clinical veterinary students (n=237), who participated in a 90-minute communication skills laboratory activity. Each class was introduced to two AI-cases and two AI-SCs, developed using OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5. The Calgary Cambridge Guide (CCG) served as the framework for practicing communication skills. Results showed that although students recognized the widespread use of AI in everyday life, their familiarity, comfort and application of AI in veterinary education were limited. Notably, upper-year students were more hesitant to adopt AI-based tools, particularly in communication skills training. The findings suggest that veterinary institutions should prioritize AI-literacy and further explore how AI can enhance and complement communication training, veterinary education and practice.

    Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI), ChatGPT, Prompt Engineering, Communication Skills, Veterinary education, Standardized Clients (SCs), AI-Standardized Clients (AI-SCs), AI-Cases

    Received: 01 Oct 2024; Accepted: 10 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Artemiou, Hooper, Dascanio, Schmidt and Gilbert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Elpida Artemiou, School of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Amarillo, United States
    Guy Gilbert, School of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Amarillo, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.