Artificial Intelligence–Enhanced Strategies for Teaching Communication Skills in Medical Education: A Systematic Review and Implications for Practice

Background: Communication competence is essential for effective clinical practice and patient-centered care. Traditional instructional methods often fall short in delivering scalable, adaptive, and context-sensitive training. Emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies offer novel opportunities to enhance communication skills education in health professions. Objective: This systematic review synthesizes current evidence on the design, implementation, and educational impact of AI-driven tools including virtual patients, intelligent tutoring systems, and chatbots for teaching communication skills to students in medical and health-related disciplines. Methods: This systematic review was conducted between November ۲۰۲۴ and August ۲۰۲۵, incorporating eligible studies published up to August ۲۰۲۵. A comprehensive search was performed across several electronic databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, with no restrictions on publication date. This systematic review adhered to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The search was limited to studies published in English that met the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria for the analysis. In line with the focus of this review, no restrictions were applied regarding the type of study. Only studies that explored the use of artificial intelligence-based approaches for teaching communication skills to medical science students were considered eligible for inclusion. Results: Initially, ۲۸۰ articles were identified. After a detailed review, ۱۸ articles were selected for inclusion. The results indicate that AI presents valuable opportunities for the training and enhancement of healthcare providers’ communication skills. The methodologies used in these studies include virtual patients (VP), virtual reality simulations (VRs), Augmented reality (AR) systems, and AI-driven chatbots. Conclusions: AI-based educational tools offer innovative pathways for teaching communication skills in health professions education. However, further research is needed to assess their pedagogical validity, ethical implications, and integration into curricula across diverse cultural and institutional contexts.

کلیدواژه ها:

Communication skills ، medical education ، artificial intelligence ، instructional design ، virtual patients