Virtual Patient

Virtual patients are simulations or representations of individuals involved in one or more Health Care processes, typically (but not necessarily) Patient s. Virtual patients are used in medical training and research.

FORMS OF VIRTUAL PATIENTS

Virtual patients may take a number of different forms:

''Artificial patients'': Computer Simulations of Biochemical processes such as the effect of drugs in organisms. These are typically used in Pharmacological research as an alternative to Testing on animals and humans for some of the Drug Development process.

''Real patients'': reflected in data e.g. Electronic Health Record s (EHRs). In this case the virtual patient is the reflection of the real patient in terms of data held about them. These are sometimes called E-patients .

''Physical simulators'': Mannequins (sometimes spelled 'manikins'), models or related artefacts.

''Electronic Case-studies and Scenario s'' where users work through Problem s, situations or similar Narrative -based activities.

TYPES OF INTERACTION WITH VIRTUAL PATIENTS

A number of different modes of virtual patient delivery have been defined :

Predetermined scenario mode

The learner may build up the patient or case data from observations and interactions mode

The learner may view and appraise or review an existing patient or scenario mode or rehearsal mode

The VP may be used as a mechanism to address particular topics mode

The learner may use a scenario or patient to explore personal/professional dimensions mode

Banks of patients or scenarios may collectively address broad issues of healthcare mode

POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL PATIENTS

Virtual patients increase the availability of training opportunities for medical students, making them less dependent on actual cases to learn how to handle different situations. Unlike real patients, virtual patients can be accessed on demand and they can be endlessly replayable to allow the user to explore different options and strategies. They can be structured with narratives that represent real situations while challenging the user with a wide range of tasks.

Despite their efficacy virtual patients are still a tangent and a prosthesis to reality. They should be viewed as augmenting existing modes and methods of clinical teaching.

VIRTUAL PATIENT DATA STANDARDS

The MedBiquitous consortium established a working group in 2005 to create a free and open data standard for expressing and exchanging virtual patients between different authoring and delivery systems. This was in part to address the problem of exchanging and reusing virtual patients and in part to encourage and support easier and wider use of virtual patients in general.

EXAMPLES

Electronic Cases

WebSP from Karolinska Institutet

Virtual Patients from Harvard Medical School

Virtual Patient Project from New York University

Labyrinth from the University of Edinburgh

TUSK Case Simulator from Tufts University

Simulators

Limbs and Things simulators

Entelos predictive biosimulators

SimMan simulator

Harvey simulator ,

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Virtual Patient