The Keck School of Medicine of USC has tested one of the first virtual patient technologies to help teach and sharpen medical students and clinicians’ interviewing and evaluation skills.

Created by USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, “Justina,” a virtual sexual assault victim suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, uses voice recognition and natural language to interact and respond to direct questions.

Justina’s responding gestures, tone and emotion convey the virtual patient’s respective diagnosis.

“Post-traumatic stress disorder is under-diagnosed because it is difficult to elicit information from frightened patients,“ said Caroly Pataki, professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral sciences. “The virtual patient helps medical students, residents and clinicians to practice their interviewing skills and recognize symptoms that someone might have. This is the first trial run with students on Justina.”

Funded by a Provost seed grant for Teaching With Technology, the Keck School of Medicine teamed with USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies to apply the virtual humans research and technology developed for Army training and use it to develop a program to enhance and elevate the quality of psychiatric education.

The virtual patient provides continuous feedback, guiding the student toward an optimal interview approach. Standardized patients, or actors, are typically used to teach students how to interact with patients.

“One of the many benefits of using technology over actors include the availability of virtual characters,” said Patrick Kenny, a research scientist with USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies. “Students can interact with Justina anytime and there is no limit on the amount of time a student can practice with the program.

“Virtual patients also have the capability to present different conditions and the system records every evaluation. The data can be used to assess the students in a timely manner,” Kenny said.