Assessment of Students’ Cognitive Conditions in Medical Simulation Training: A Review Study

Although performance measures are strongly used in the field of medical education to evaluate skills of trainees and medical students, the assessment of their cognitive state is relatively “uncommon”. This fact is disadvantageous if we consider the introduction of technologies as physical medical simulators and augmented/virtual reality devices, which may represent an improvement in the students’ immersion in the simulated scenario or, conversely, a potential risk of a serious information overload. Therefore, a precise assessment of the cognitive conditions is an essential element of the design process of a medical training session. This study aims to provide the current state in literature on the assessment of cognitive state during medical simulation training sessions. It provides critical insights on the validity and reliability of current metrics and helps in the selection of measurements tools when applied in simulation-based training contexts.