The eViP partners were asked to provide feedback on their experiences, and to give advice for those wanting to use VPs for the first time.

“Use a system which is seen by staff as a reasonable and not an excessive time investment,” says Terry Poulton from SGUL, London. “Target particular areas for VP production,” he adds. “Single VPs dotted around the curriculum are interesting, they will have novelty value but they may have limited impact in the subject area.” Inga Hege from LMU Munich, Germany, agrees. “The most important aspect is a good integration strategy when using VPs,” she says.

Uno Fors and Nabil Zary from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden say: “Adopt a student-centered approach, and when creating VPs seek best evidence in the published scientific literature.”

Another important aspect is the involvement of teachers as early as possible in the authoring process. David Davies from The University of Warwick says: “A sense of shared ownership of VPs in particular, but e-learning in general, is vital to successfully embed new technologies in the curriculum.”

Technical considerations are also important. What will work best for your institution? Andrzej Kononowicz from Jagiellonian University says: “Web-based VP systems are more practical and accessible than desktop applications.”

Finally, make use of your students when introducing VPs into your schools! “It is worth asking students for help while preparing new cases,” says Andrjez. “For instance, translations of cases from other systems may be done with good results by medical students in their final year. Although supervision by subject matter specialists is, of course, necessary,” he adds.

Read the eViP VP case studies in full.

Jack Cleutjens, MD, is a biologist working at the Department of Pathology at Maastricht University. Here he describes how medical students collaborate online using this system.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“The original system involved one student behind one computer,” says Jack. “But now groups of students can work together on the same slide. We use a whiteboard system where group members can access the area, see all changes, and engage in a group discussion online.”

Once their discussion is completed, they input their information into a Wiki, where the tutor can review the content. “For the tutor, this is easier than having a Word file which you need to create, edit and send by email to all the students,” says Jack.

This new system is popular with the students. The obvious advantage is that all students in a given group are analyzing the same slide, rather than spending time adjusting their equipment. As Jack says: “Some students will go on to use a microscope when they become professionals, but most don’t.”

“What’s the most important thing?” he adds. “It’s not adjusting the microscope, but recognising the pathophysiological mechanisms behind it. Why are those cells there? What is changing within the tissue?”

Although the efficacy of this new system has not been empirically tested, the anecdotal evidence and user feedback suggests that the students are happy using the virtual slides. “We’re not completely sure how the system actually improves the student’s learning experience,” says Jack. “But the feedback is positive. They like it, and they go back to it.”

Click here to visit MedBiquitous.com and download the presentations.

According to Rachel, there is a critical piece in any area of research, between innovation and creation, and then going towards it being used.

“The piece that is really troubling us in the health sciences is translational medicine,” she says. Fortunately at the 2nd International Conference on Virtual Patients and MedBiquitous Annual Meeting, Rachel sees “us moving from technology in it’s raw, laboratory sense, to moving into practice.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read the full 2nd International Conference on Virtual Patients and MedBiquitous Annual Meeting report here.

And in order to create effective VP, multidisciplinary teams are crucial, as are standards. “It is important to have a uniform language in order to collaborate in a meaningful way,” he says.

Finally, Bas describes how VPs provide users with access to diversity, providing the practitioner with a range of perspectives and experiences.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read the full 2nd International Conference on Virtual Patients and MedBiquitous Annual Meeting report here.

As she explained, social media is a “powerful tool where students can be peer mentors for one another.” However, she adds: “A lot of work still needs to be done to see how we, as educators, can learn how to integrate and work within that medium to make the students feel comfortable.”

Rosalyn then outlined her other activities with virtual patients, focusing on the hospital workforce rather than the younger learner.

“How do we take those virtual patient modalities and nake them relevant for workers,” she asks. “How can we use these tools for ‘just-in-time’ education, for the discussion of an event that did not go well, or a new procedure that will be introduced. How do we use these technologies to teach people about how medications?”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Read the full report from the 2nd International Conference on Virtual Patients and MedBiquitous Annual Meeting here.

“The key is to strike the balance between diversity and specialisation,” he says. “We often bring together a very diverse group of people. People who are experts in areas of technology, others who are experts in areas of pedagogy.”

“The wonderful thing about the collaborations that form is that they can work together,” he adds.

Click here to view the embedded video.

View Part One of Peter Greene’s presentation here, and read the full 2nd International Conference on Virtual Patients and MedBiquitous Annual Meeting report here.

He also announced the release of the MedBiquitous Virtual Patient Standard. This standard defines how the data should be shown in the virtual patient, what data should be available to the learner at a particular time, what the sequence should be, and what media should be available.

“This really is a jump start for anyone developing a system,” he says.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can read the full ICVP2010 and MedBiquitous Annual Meeting report here.

Different learning tools are appropriate for different competencies, for example patient simulations are very good for learning procedures and developing clinical skills, and virtual patients are ideal for developing clinical reasoning.

During the opening Plenary session at the recent International Conference on Virtual Patients 2010 and MedBiquitous Annual Meeting, Terry outlined how the integration of these different resources can transform the medical curricula.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can read the full ICVP2010 and MedBiq Annual Meeting report here.

Dominique Waterval from the Department of Educational Research at Maastricht University in The Netherlands describes an ambitious project involving the transfer of their PBL curriculum to the Sulaiman al-Rajhi University in the Al Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.

The Al Rajhi University and Hospital is a new establishment, and as such they will be using the Maastricht Curriculum for content and assessment as the foundation for their programme.

Dominique is overseeing this project, and as he explains: “We have franchised our medical curriculum to this new university hospital, and they will be using this as the basis for their programme. We will also provide training to help them develop competencies with the programme and with problem-based learning.”

This long-term project will last for 11 years, and ultimately those at Al Rajhi University will be able to modify the course content so it reflects their cultural needs. “They have the right to use our educational material, and they also have access to our assessment instruments,” he says.

“They do have the right to deviate from our programme,” he adds. “They can make adjustments, and include other diseases, or put emphasis on other diseases. But the first year will probably be an exact copy of what Maastricht has.”

Aside from the financial benefits, as Dominique explains: “Maastricht University wants to profile itself as a truly international university and this project really contributes to that portfolio.”

“But something that is just as important is the bringing together of the two cultures,” he adds. “Our staff are exposed to the Arabic and Saudi culture, and visa versa.”

Listen to Dominique talk about Maastricht University to Al Rajhi University Hospital curriculum transfer

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