Conclusion
HY, JGYB2019008
This randomized controlled trial demonstrated the feasibility of VSP-TCM in improving the clinical competence of medical students. VSP-TCM may be a replacement for OSPs and SSPs in universities with limited expenditure. VSP-TCM deserves more attention and promotion. Therefore, future studies aiming to improve VSP-TCM systems that can effectively enhance the clinical abilities of medical students are warranted.This study was funded by grants JGYB2019008 (HY) from the Teaching Reform Project of the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CDUTCM); CDUTCM-2020 no. 140 (BL) from the Promotion Plan for Young Teachers of the CDUTCM; 2022ZLGC40 (BL) from the Special Project of Education and Teaching Research Center of the CDUTCM; JYJX202211 (YZ) and JYJX202215 (JZ) from the Education and Teaching Reform Research Project of clinical medical school of CDUTCM; S202210633021 (XX) from the Innovation Training Project of the CDUTCM; and ky-2022004 (XX) from the Scientific, Practice, and Innovation Project of the CDUTCM.Authors' Contributions: HY, XX, and XW contributed to this paper equally and share first authorship. XX, JZ, and YZ had full access to all the data in the study and take accountability for data integrity and the accuracy of data analysis. YZ, BL, and JZ concepted and designed the study. XX, XF, and YL obtained and analyzed data. HY, XX, XW, and JZ drafted and revised the manuscript. XX and QD performed the statistical analysis. HY, XX, and BL obtained funding.Conflicts of Interest: None declared.Modified mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX) and the flow of formative evaluation.Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials of Electronic and Mobile Health Applications and Online Telehealth (CONSORT-eHEALTH) checklist (V 1.6.1).