How can clinical guidelines become practical skills in patient encounters? A University of Oulu research team has explored this question with MediCampus AI, an educational simulation developed using LessonLab’s TAITO technology platform. The team’s published pilot study provides encouraging early findings on its use in medical and physiotherapy education.

The study evaluated student experiences and explored how AI simulation can support the application of clinical guidelines in medical and physiotherapy education.

From recommendations to realistic patient encounters

MediCampus AI enables students to practise assessing and treating virtual patients with hand and forearm strain disorders. Its clinical content draws on the Finnish Current Care Guideline, connecting evidence-based recommendations with interactive patient scenarios.

Students work through the consultation from history-taking and examinations to diagnosis, treatment planning and patient counselling. AI-powered patient conversations provide opportunities to practise communication alongside clinical reasoning, while feedback helps students reflect on their decisions.

The simulation offers a setting where learners can explore different approaches and learn from mistakes without putting real patients at risk.

What the pilot found

The pilot included 11 medical and physiotherapy students, randomly assigned to simulation-based learning or traditional case-based learning. Five students used MediCampus AI, while six completed corresponding written cases with expert feedback.

The simulation group showed larger descriptive improvements in several questionnaire domains related to implementing clinical guidelines, including self-reported knowledge, skills and confidence in their capabilities. These findings suggest potential for supporting students as they learn to apply recommendations in practice.

Student feedback also highlighted the value of the experience. All five simulation participants felt that the virtual patients described their symptoms and answered questions naturally. Four of the five reported that the feedback supported their learning, and the same proportion considered the simulation suitable for practising the assessment and treatment of hand and forearm strain disorders.

Participants also identified opportunities for development, including broader examination options, more challenging cases and improvements to usability.

A foundation for further research

This was a small pilot focused on usability and factors supporting guideline implementation. Larger studies are needed to establish its effects on lasting learning and performance in real clinical settings.

For LessonLab, the project illustrates how customers can use TAITO to build simulations around their own expertise and investigate their educational value. The University of Oulu’s work provides an encouraging foundation for further development of AI-supported healthcare education.

Read the research: Paukkunen, M., et al. (2026). From Guideline to Gameplay: A Pilot Study on AI Simulation in Medical and Physiotherapy Training. Published in the proceedings of the Second Nordic Conference on Digital Health and Wireless Solutions, pp. 669–686.