Heng Yao, MS, BS
Graduate Student
University of Florida
Heng Yao is a Ph.D. student working under Dr. Benjamin Lok in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department at the University of Florida. His research explores using virtual humans to improve health professional trainees' empathy skills and involves developing embodied conversational agents, emotion recognition, and behavior training. He received an M.S. (2016) and a B.S. (2013) from Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Presenting at the Nexus Summit:

Poster Description: BACKGROUND: Comprehensive and coordinated approaches are needed to teach students how to address health care needs, cultural sensitivity, and empathy when interprofessional knowledge is of paramount importance for the overall outcome. Simulation experiences are known as effective interprofessional education (IPE) activities, and use of virtual patients (VP) is an emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled approach in IPE. An advantage of VPs is that learners can access them at anytime and anywhere, providing a flexible, yet coordinated learning environment. This poster…