The Wizard of OT

Preparing for Job and Clinical Interviews in Occupational Therapy: Leveraging AI for Role Play Practice

Heather Kuhaneck* (with assistance of ChatGPT for prompt suggestions)

8-7-24

Traditional interview preparation methods, such as mock interviews are invaluable, but the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) can take this preparation to the next level. This post explores how AI can be used to help OT students prepare for:

1. their first job interview
2. clinical interviewing of clients

What is it?

ChatGPT (and other AI systems) can be used to practice interviewing skills, allowing OT students to simulate either job interview scenarios or clinical interviewing skills- in an interactive dialogue. This provides an accessible method to refine their techniques, responses, and overall communication skills. Role play is a well-established technique for learning and improving one’s communication skills. Role play allows students to practice responses and receive feedback in a safe and controlled environment. AI-enhanced role play can make this process more effective by offering personalized practice opportunities and individualized feedback.

Ways this can be used:

• Mock Interviews: Students can participate in mock interviews with AI interviewers that simulate various types of interviewers, from highly formal to more conversational styles. This helps students prepare for different interview settings and question types.
• Behavioral Interviews: AI can simulate behavioral interview questions that require students to describe past experiences and how they handled specific situations. This helps students practice the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure their responses effectively.
• Case Study Interviews: To improve problem-solving and critical thinking, AI can present case study scenarios where students must analyze a situation and propose solutions.
• Gathering Feedback: AI platforms can provide instant feedback on various aspects of the interview, such as body language, tone of voice, and the content of responses. This immediate feedback helps students refine their performance continuously. AI tools can evaluate various metrics such as response relevance, clarity, confidence, and professionalism. They can also analyze non-verbal cues like eye contact, facial expressions, and gestures.
• Creating training: Based on the feedback, AI can generate personalized training plans that include specific exercises and resources to help students improve in targeted areas.

Why do it?

There are a few reasons why you might want to implement this with your students. First, this type of simulation offers immediate, tailored feedback on responses, helping users identify areas for improvement. Second, practicing with AI may reduce anxiety associated with real interviews, allowing for more relaxed practice. Third, this form of practice is available on demand and is quite flexible for student schedules. Finally, AI is here and we must equip our students with the tools to use it appropriately AND ethically. By incorporating activities such as this into OT education, we can begin to teach students about AI’s strengths and weaknesses for their future career.

There is little evidence yet to support using AI specifically, as it is so new.  However, there are a few studies, referenced below, that are starting to suggest that interactive, AI-driven practice can enhance outcomes. There is also some evidence for the use of role play to enhance student performance. Most of the work has been completed with medical students, although there are a few studies with OT and other health care fields.  For any OTs out there looking for a research line, we could use some investigation into AI and role play in OT education!

How to do it?

1. Access ChatGPT via a platform that supports it (e.g., OpenAI, integrated educational tools). First familiarize yourself with basic commands and how to interact with the AI if this is new to you.
2. Provide varied prompts based on your needs and different interviewing purposes.
   • Identify whether the practice session is for job interviews, clinical interviews, or another purpose.
     • For job interviews: “You are a hiring manager at _______ facility. You are interviewing me for an occupational therapist position. Ask me about my experience with ________patients.”
     • For clinical interviews: “You are a patient presenting with a diagnosis of _____________ in ________ setting. I am interviewing you for an occupational profile. Answer my questions using information available online about people with that diagnosis.”  (You can also provide a document with case information for the AI to use for this purpose).  You will need to provide it with the information it needs to be able to answer questions about specific occupational preferences for example.)

• Additional detailed job interview prompts
  • Prompt: “I am preparing for a behavioral interview for an occupational therapist position. Please ask me questions that require me to describe past experiences and behaviors. For example, you can start with, ‘Tell me about a time when you had to handle a difficult patient. How did you manage the situation?’” Please give me feedback on my body language, eye contact, and level of clarity of my responses.”
  • Prompt: “Act as an interviewer for an occupational therapy position at a pediatric clinic. Ask me about my experience and skills relevant to this setting. For instance, ‘Can you explain a specific intervention you have used with children with sensory processing disorders?’”
  • Prompt: “Imagine you are conducting a job interview for an occupational therapist. Present me with hypothetical scenarios and ask how I would handle them. For example, ‘How would you approach a situation where a patient is not making expected progress in their therapy goals?’”
  • Prompt: “Interview me for an occupational therapy job and include questions about my strengths and weaknesses. For example, ‘What do you consider your greatest strength as an occupational therapist, and how does it benefit your patients? Conversely, what is a weakness you are working on?’”
  • Prompt: “Ask me about my long-term career goals in occupational therapy. For example, ‘Where do you see yourself in five years within the field of occupational therapy, and what steps are you taking to achieve those goals?’”
  •  
• Additional detailed clinical Interview prompts:
  • Prompt: “You are a patient experiencing chronic back pain. Describe your symptoms and previous treatments. Give me feedback regarding the level of detail of my questions.” 
  • Prompt: “Act as a patient with symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Answer my questions about your medical history, symptoms, and daily activities. For example, ‘Can you describe when you first noticed the symptoms and what activities seem to exacerbate them?’”
  • Prompt: “You are a patient experiencing chronic back pain. Provide detailed responses to my questions about the nature and severity of your pain. For example, ‘On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain, and does it vary throughout the day?’”
  • Prompt: “You are a patient dealing with rheumatoid arthritis. Answer my questions about how this condition affects your daily life and activities. For example, ‘How does your condition impact your ability to perform daily tasks like cooking or dressing?’”
  • Prompt: “Simulate a patient suffering from depression. Respond to my inquiries regarding your mental health status, coping mechanisms, and support systems. For example, ‘How have your feelings of depression affected your daily functioning and social interactions?’”
  • Prompt: “You are a patient newly diagnosed with diabetes. Answer my questions as I educate you about lifestyle modifications and self-management strategies. For example, ‘What questions do you have about managing your diet and monitoring your blood sugar levels?’”
  • Prompt: “You are the mother of a child with autism and I am interviewing you over the phone.  I am the therapist who works with your child in the elementary school.  Please answer my questions about your child’s strengths and weaknesses and provide me feedback on my level of child and family centeredness in my questions and responses to you.”
• Requests for Feedback:
  • Prompt: “After responding to the interview questions, provide me with feedback on my answers, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement. For example, ‘How effectively did I communicate my experience working with children with autism?’”
  • Prompt: “After I answer the next question, give me detailed feedback on my response. For instance, ‘What could I have done better in my explanation of handling a difficult patient situation?’”
  • Prompt: “Evaluate my responses to the interview questions and suggest specific ways I can improve. For example, ‘How can I more effectively articulate my clinical reasoning during a patient history interview?’”

3. Engage in the Practice Session:

• Start the conversation with ChatGPT, following your prompts.
• Respond to the AI’s questions as you would in a real interview.
• Ask the AI for feedback on your answers and suggestions for improvement.

4. Review and Reflect:

• Analyze the feedback provided by ChatGPT.
• Reflect on your performance and identify areas for further practice.

5. Iterate:

• Repeat the process with new scenarios and prompts to cover a broader range of topics and situations.

MAKE IT EVEN BETTER

Although students can run these practice sessions on their laptops and they can type in the prompts and read the responses and feedback, it can be more useful to speak conversationally with the AI using a phone. 

• Go to your app store and download the OpenAI/ chatgpt version for your phone type.
• Then, open your preferred web browser on your phone and navigate to the OpenAI chat platform. You can log in with the same credentials you use on your laptop.
• Once you are in ChatGpt 4o on your phone, you will click the headphone icon at the bottom and select chat with voice.
• Choose a voice. It will provide you with a few options to choose from.
• After this, just speak your prompt into the phone.  Choose one of the ones from above and specifically ask for feedback on your answer.
• When you are done answering its question, it will give you specific feedback on your answer and- it will give you a revised, better answer that you could try out for the next time.

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Resources to help you as you create an activity or assignment for your students to practice interviewing:

Videos showing an example:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOXMwsq7ACs  and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfAYBdaGVxs

FYI: There are companies popping up to specifically focus on this aspect of AI use

(see https://shadowing.ai/ for example and https://medium.com/@jwalantp/interview-practice-with-remasto-ai-interviewers-for-job-seekers-in-different-countries-9cbe950c698d, also platforms like InterviewStream (https://interviewstream.com/ and https://dol.ny.gov/interviewstream ) and HireVue (https://www.hirevue.com/ ).  Many of these provide AI-driven mock interviews where students can practice answering common interview questions, receive feedback on their performance, and watch their responses to improve self-awareness.  Many provide free options for students.

*PLEASE NOTE: ChatGPT provided the draft prompts and types of interviewing it could practice with students. All content has been edited and applied to occupational therapy by the author.

References and Additional Resources

Hershberger, P. J., Pei, Y., Bricker, D. A., Crawford, T. N., Shivakumar, A., Castle, A., … & Wilson, J. F. (2024). Motivational interviewing skills practice enhanced with artificial intelligence: ReadMI. BMC Medical Education, 24(1), 237.

Hershberger, P. J., Pei, Y., Bricker, D. A., Crawford, T. N., Shivakumar, A., Vasoya, M., … & Wilson, J. F. (2021). Advancing motivational interviewing training with artificial intelligence: ReadMI. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 613-618.

Kanazawa, A., Fujibayashi, K., Watanabe, Y., Kushiro, S., Yanagisawa, N., Fukataki, Y., … & Naito, T. (2023). Evaluation of a medical interview-assistance system using artificial intelligence for resident physicians interviewing simulated patients: A crossover, randomized, controlled trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(12), 6176.

Kaul, P., Fisher, J. H., & Hanson, J. L. (2018). Medical students’ acquisition of adolescent interview skills after coached role play. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 31(2), 102-106.

Kenny, P., Rizzo, A. A., Parsons, T., Gratch, J., & Swartout, W. (2007). A virtual human agent for training clinical interviewing skills to novice therapists. Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine, 5, 81-89.

Lane, C., Hood, K., & Rollnick, S. (2008). Teaching motivational interviewing: using role play is as effective as using simulated patients. Medical Education, 42(6), 637-644.

Meny, A., Hayat, A., Eldigire, M., Kaleem, M., Alharbi, N., Albaz, N., & Sami, W. (2023). Comparing the effectiveness of role-play simulation versus real patient transferal skills training in occupational therapy students in Saudi-Arabia-a quasi-experimental study. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 685-691.

Sullivan, A., Albright, G., & Khalid, N. (2021). Impact of a virtual role-play simulation in teaching motivational interviewing communication strategies to occupational therapy students for readiness in conducting screening and brief interventions. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 21(2).

Weidener, L., & Fischer, M. (2023). Artificial intelligence teaching as part of medical education: qualitative analysis of expert interviews. JMIR Medical Education, 9(1), e46428. Also see https://digital.ahrq.gov/ahrq-funded-projects/real-time-assessment-dialogue-motivational-interviewing-training-readmi