By Carlos Medina
When Michael Bumbach, Ph.D., APRN, started his career as a nurse practitioner in the emergency room, he was petrified during his first consultations with specialists. It was something the UF College of Nursing clinical assistant professor had never practiced in school.
Because this experience is so common among new graduates, Bumbach has been working to make the transition to the professional health care world easier by incorporating artificial intelligence into classroom learning. He has been perfecting an AI-powered system — complete with emergency room simulations and clinician avatars — that students can use at UF to build interdisciplinary collaboration skills for the future.
“I remember when I was a brand-new nurse practitioner. It was nerve-wracking. It’s intimidating to call the specialist with years of experience, and here I was, a newbie,” Bumbach said. “So, if we can increase [students’] confidence through this simulation, that interaction is a little bit easier. It’s a little smoother, resulting in better patient outcomes.”
The project — a partnership between the College of Nursing, the College of Dentistry, the Office of Interprofessional Education, and the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering — uses a combination of AI, virtual reality, and simulation technology to enhance how students communicate with patients, collaborate with colleagues, and develop critical skills essential to clinical practice.
“We’ve been working on this for maybe four years now,” Bumbach said. “The goal is to streamline education with technology; if we can do that, we can build the next level of nursing education.”
The first live uses of the new Interprofessional Communication simulation program happened over the spring and summer, when UF Doctor of Nursing Practice, or D.N.P., and dental students engaged in realistic, collaborative care scenarios.
For example, a D.N.P. student started by signing into the program using a computer, and a video of a fully simulated AI avatar introduced a scenario: A patient has arrived at the emergency room after a night of drinking, missing a front tooth. The tooth has arrived in a cup of water.
With this information, the student was able to engage in virtual conversations with the patient avatar. The AI component then kicked in to evaluate the quality of the student’s questions, the level of empathy, and the thoroughness of the diagnostic process. The program offered real-time suggestions for improvement, including different word choices and approaches.
The AI patient responded to the questions and could even be programmed to bring up specific situations. Currently, the avatar pushes the student for opioid painkillers, but various scenarios are being planned.
After the examination, the D.N.P. student consulted via videoconference with the dental student. The dental student took over the case and their performance was analyzed in real time. The two students developed a care plan, and each charted the case. Faculty members evaluated and reviewed the student sessions.
Overall, the program mimics what is seen in real-world health care settings, providing students with experience in interprofessional collaborative care. The avatar in the program is dressed like a clinician and is so lifelike, down to the creases in his white coat, that it is hard to tell it is not a video recording of a real person. While the patient avatar is currently low-fidelity, updates will soon refine the quality.
“This simulation offers students a real-world scenario for interprofessional collaboration between the nursing and dental professions,” said Amy Blue, Ph.D., the associate vice president for interprofessional education in the UF Health Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs. “It’s been wonderful to see how the students appreciate learning from each other as they work through the scenario together.”
Roberta Pileggi, D.D.S., M.S., the College of Dentistry’s associate dean for advanced and graduate education, is part of the clinical team that is developing the project and identifying areas for improvement.
“We’ll take the data and make adjustments and updates and go live with an update in 2025,” Bumbach said.
Unlike traditional simulation exercises, which require physical space, mannequins, and instructors, the AI-powered simulations can be accessed from anywhere. Students across Florida can log in from their homes, smartphones, or laptops.
The team behind the Interprofessional Communication simulation program hopes to secure additional funding and train larger cohorts of students in the spring.
“It’s getting there,” Bumbach said. “Every time we run it, it just gets a little better.”