Virtual Patients Reference Center
The Virtual Patients Reference Center was a Web-based inventory
designed to gather information regarding Virtual Patients (VPs)
at AAMC member medical schools, including their willingness to share
these resources.
Descriptive information for all the virtual patients we collected
in the inventory are now available through the MedEdPORTAL
website. You can search specifically for virtual patients by selecting
the "Power
Search" option. You will then need to select "Virtual Patients"
from the "Collection" menu.
Virtual Patients are computer-based simulations that use technology
to bring patient cases to life.
Because of their media-richness and complexity, VPs are expensive
and resource-intensive to develop. As a result, few schools can
afford to create these valuable learning tools. The AAMC has developed
this Virtual Patients Reference Center to promote sharing so that
all member medical schools might benefit and educators might collaboratively
create additional cases rather than duplicate efforts across institutions.
 For
the purposes of the inventory, Virtual Patients are defined as "interactive
computer programs that simulate real-life clinical scenarios in
which the learner acts as a health care professional obtaining a
history and physical exam and making diagnostic and therapeutic
decisions." The inventory includes information about
the technical platform, intended audience, mode of access, and content
description of the individual cases. It also inquires about each
institution's willingness to share these programs with others. As
noted previously, in an effort to encourage medical schools and
faculty to share these valuable resources, the AAMC is implementing
a peer review process to promote scholarship and recognition for
the time and resources devoted to these important assets.
The original inventory was created by Grace Huang, MD, at the Shapiro
Institute at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center along with Robby Reynolds, MPA, and Chris Candler, MD, at
the AAMC.
Image Source: Waksmonski, C., Huang, G. (2003)
A 33-year-old man with chest pain. The Virtual Patient, Carl J.
Shapiro Institute for Education and Research at Harvard Medical
School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
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