Name
Abstraction Beyond Reflection: Learner Conceptualization in a Torsades de
Pointes Simulation for Medical Students
Date & Time
Sunday, June 7, 2026, 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM
Location Name
Lamar C
Speakers
Authors
Sohawm Sengupta, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
A.J. Kleinheksel, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Rushabh Sheth, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Presentation Topic(s)
Instructional Methods
Description
PURPOSE
Simulation-based education is thought to promote abstraction, allowing
learners to generalize knowledge beyond case-specific details. This study
examined whether medical students’ intended self-study topics following a
torsades de pointes simulation reflected conceptual abstraction and whether
abstraction was influenced by perceived simulation realism or clinical
content area.
METHODS
Third-year medical students participating in an internal medicine rotation
completed a simulation of drug-induced torsades de pointes and a
post-simulation survey asking what they planned to study next. Responses (N =
130 from 119 learners) were qualitatively coded into clinical content
categories and classified as conceptual or concrete. Chi-square analyses
evaluated associations among abstraction level, content category, and
perceived realism.
RESULTS
Learners overwhelmingly reported conceptual learning intentions, indicating
consistent abstraction beyond the immediate case. Abstraction level did not
differ significantly across realism ratings, suggesting fidelity did not
influence whether students generated conceptual or concrete follow-up topics.
In contrast, abstraction varied significantly by content category (?²(6) =
42.01, p < .001). Conceptual responses predominated in categories such as
arrhythmias, EKG interpretation, and etiology, while medication safety
responses, particularly drug–drug interactions and QT-prolonging medications,
were more concrete. Qualitative analysis reinforced these patterns, revealing
strong interest in diagnostic reasoning, rhythm interpretation, and
management frameworks, alongside focused fact-finding in pharmacology and
medication safety.
CONCLUSIONS
Medical students demonstrated robust conceptual abstraction in their
planned self-directed learning, independent of perceived realism. Content
type, rather than fidelity, shaped whether learners generated conceptual
versus concrete goals. These findings highlight abstraction as a key
mechanism through which simulation supports transferable clinical reasoning
and suggest that simulation design should intentionally encourage conceptual
transfer to strengthen adaptive expertise.
Simulation-based education is thought to promote abstraction, allowing
learners to generalize knowledge beyond case-specific details. This study
examined whether medical students’ intended self-study topics following a
torsades de pointes simulation reflected conceptual abstraction and whether
abstraction was influenced by perceived simulation realism or clinical
content area.
METHODS
Third-year medical students participating in an internal medicine rotation
completed a simulation of drug-induced torsades de pointes and a
post-simulation survey asking what they planned to study next. Responses (N =
130 from 119 learners) were qualitatively coded into clinical content
categories and classified as conceptual or concrete. Chi-square analyses
evaluated associations among abstraction level, content category, and
perceived realism.
RESULTS
Learners overwhelmingly reported conceptual learning intentions, indicating
consistent abstraction beyond the immediate case. Abstraction level did not
differ significantly across realism ratings, suggesting fidelity did not
influence whether students generated conceptual or concrete follow-up topics.
In contrast, abstraction varied significantly by content category (?²(6) =
42.01, p < .001). Conceptual responses predominated in categories such as
arrhythmias, EKG interpretation, and etiology, while medication safety
responses, particularly drug–drug interactions and QT-prolonging medications,
were more concrete. Qualitative analysis reinforced these patterns, revealing
strong interest in diagnostic reasoning, rhythm interpretation, and
management frameworks, alongside focused fact-finding in pharmacology and
medication safety.
CONCLUSIONS
Medical students demonstrated robust conceptual abstraction in their
planned self-directed learning, independent of perceived realism. Content
type, rather than fidelity, shaped whether learners generated conceptual
versus concrete goals. These findings highlight abstraction as a key
mechanism through which simulation supports transferable clinical reasoning
and suggest that simulation design should intentionally encourage conceptual
transfer to strengthen adaptive expertise.
Presentation Tag(s)
Student Presentation, Best Student Oral Nominee