Building a Smart Simulation Environment: AI-Powered Virtual Patients in Healthcare Education

Date: 22 July 2026, Wednesday

Time: 12pm - 1pm

Synopsis

To address limited placement hours and inconsistent clinical encounters, Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Health and Social Sciences implemented Noodle Factory’s AI-powered virtual patients for immersive communication role-play. This provides a safe, controlled learning environment where students practice essential interaction skills and make mistakes without real-world consequences.

Scaled across 11 advanced diploma programmes for 400 students, a separate customised AI agent slashes faculty scenario development from hours to minutes without requiring special technical training. Students highly praised the realistic conversation and immediate feedback. This scalable framework fosters critical clinical skills, laying a robust foundation for wider application across other educational disciplines.

Speaker
Huang Fang (NYP)

Huang Fang, MPH, RN, Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE), is a Specialist (T&L) and Senior Lecturer at Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Health & Social Sciences with nearly twenty years of experience in simulation-based education. She specializes in making simulation efficient through innovative AI-powered virtual patients, AI-built electronic health records, and automated scenario development. Her leadership earned a Gold project award and first prize in the 2025 T&L AI Prompt Contest. A published Principal Investigator, she contributed to Singapore's national simulation guidelines, reviews for Clinical Simulation in Nursing, and trains healthcare faculty regionally, shaping the future of simulation and technology-enhanced education.