MPC: VISTA is not built on a good idea. It is built on a decade of research.

Before MPC: VISTA was developed, dfusion partnered with the RAND Corporation to test a foundational question: can a simulation-based online training produce teaching outcomes comparable to the gold-standard in-person MPC training?

The study, a randomized controlled trial, assigned participants to either traditional in-person training or an online simulation prototype of one MPC activity. The results were striking.

Participants who received online simulation training performed at least as well as in-person participants on observed fidelity and quality of instruction, the behaviors that actually determine whether a program achieves its outcomes with students. In many cases, simulation-trained educators demonstrated better performance on specific facilitation skills.

This matters because most evaluations of online training measure what participants know and how confident they feel. This study went further. It measured what participants actually did when they got up to teach.

A smaller group of educators within the main study, those who are currently teaching and can deliver all eight MPC modules to a student cohort during the study period, are participating in an embedded sub-study.

These educators complete MPC: VISTA and then implement the curriculum with their students. Before and after instruction, students complete brief, confidential surveys about their attitudes and beliefs related to sexual health.

The sub-study is exploratory. Its purpose is to document whether educators trained through MPC: VISTA deliver the program in ways consistent with MPC’s established evidence base, as reflected in student outcome patterns. Sub-study educators receive an additional financial incentive in recognition of the greater commitment involved.