Reducing misdiagnoses and cognitive errors using virtual patients and automated feedback in a clinical reasoning curriculum.

Diagnostic errors are common in all specialties often due to gaps in clinical reasoning training during medical education. This North American study evaluates whether a classroom curriculum using virtual patients with automated scoring and deliberate practice improves diagnostic accuracy and reasoning. Results indicate that deliberate practice effectively trains clinical reasoning skills, reduces misdiagnosis rates, and is beneficial even for first-year medical students before they gain active clinical experience.