How CAST uses SimChat for clinical communication skills training

Dr Lauren Squires’ CAST programme combines AI simulation with facilitator-led debriefing to help doctors practise clinical conversations. An initial pilot with 10 Emergency Department resident medical officers produced encouraging feedback.

Explaining difficult news, responding to a distressed relative and discussing a patient’s wishes are important parts of clinical practice. Giving doctors time to rehearse these conversations is the focus of CAST, a communication training programme developed by Dr Lauren Squires using SimChat.

CAST brings together clinician-written scenarios, AI voice simulations and structured debriefing. Its initial pilot offers an example of how medical educators can incorporate AI into facilitated communication skills training.

Why Lauren developed CAST

For Lauren, the project began with a belief that communication deserves more attention in medical education.

“Communication skills are undervalued, under-taught” - Dr Squires

Her hospital’s large population of international medical graduates was another motivation. Clinicians joining the Australian healthcare system may encounter communication expectations that differ from those in the systems where they trained. CAST creates space to explore those expectations through realistic practice.

The programme isn't only for international graduates. Any doctor can use it to practise conversations they find difficult and consider what they would do differently.

How the training works

CAST uses SimChat, the AI simulation platform developed by Geeky Medics, to deliver interactive clinical communication scenarios.

The scenarios are written by an emergency doctor, and sessions typically run for around two hours. Participants practise conversations with AI voice avatars using Australian accents, followed by a structured, facilitator-led debrief.

Facilitator guides, learning objectives and debrief prompts support the teaching. This gives each simulation a clear educational purpose and provides a framework for discussing the conversation afterwards.

The format allows CAST to deliver simulated conversations without recruiting patient actors for each session, while retaining an active role for the educator. The facilitator helps participants examine their choices, explore alternative approaches and connect the learning to clinical practice.

What the pilot found

The initial CAST pilot involved 10 Emergency Department resident medical officers. According to the programme’s pilot evaluation summary:

  • Participants reported improved confidence across all assessed communication domains.
  • 80% reported a significant improvement in their communication skills.
  • Participants described the scenarios as realistic, engaging and clinically relevant.
  • Participants reported a strong intention to change their future communication practice.

These are encouraging early findings from a small pilot. They reflect participants’ reported confidence, perceptions and intentions; they do not establish an independently measured improvement in clinical performance or patient outcomes.

For educators considering a similar approach, the pilot provides an initial example of learner engagement with AI-supported communication training.

Building scenarios around clinical needs

CAST’s scenario library is expanding to cover breaking bad news, goals of care conversations, de-escalation with distressed patients and family members, shared decision-making and discharge discussions.

These topics give the programme a practical focus: conversations doctors encounter in their working lives.

Lauren’s planned next step is to align scenarios with local complaints and quality improvement data, helping target the communication challenges identified within the service.

Independent, at-home practice is also a possible future development. This could give participants opportunities to revisit scenarios between facilitated sessions and reinforce their learning outside the classroom.

What other medical educators can take from CAST

CAST offers a practical starting point for hospitals and medical education teams exploring AI simulation: identify relevant communication challenges, develop scenarios around clear learning objectives and pair practice with structured reflection.

In this programme, SimChat provides the simulated conversation, while clinical educators shape the scenarios and guide the debrief. The pilot feedback offers an early indication of how learners respond to that combination.

Further evaluation could explore whether reported confidence and intentions translate into sustained changes in practice. For now, CAST illustrates how one educator is creating more opportunities for doctors to rehearse the conversations that matter to patients and families.

Explore SimChat for your organisation

Interested in developing clinical communication training for your learners? Explore SimChat for medical education or contact our team to arrange a demo and discuss your programme.