What do speech pathology students gain from virtual patient interviewing? A WHO International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF) analysis.

Background: Virtual patients have an established place in medical education but do virtual patient interviews train holistic clinicians or just diagnosticians? This study explored speech pathology students' virtual patient interviews using WHO International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF).

Methods: Eighteen speech pathology students in their final year of training participated. Students interviewed virtual patients with dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) as part of their curriculum.

Virtual humans versus standardized patients: which lead residents to more correct diagnoses?

Purpose: Medical educators frequently use standardized patient (SP) encounters to bridge the gap between didactic education and practical application. Typically, SPs are healthy adults with no consistent physical findings; however, highly immersive virtual humans (VHs) may enable the consistent presentation of abnormal physical findings to multiple learners across multiple repetitions. Thus, the authors conducted this study to compare how frequently junior anesthesiology residents suspected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in preoperative assessments of SPs versus a VH.

Description of web-enhanced virtual character simulation system to standardize patient hand-offs.

Introduction: The 80-h work week has increased discontinuity of patient care resulting in reports of increased medication errors and preventable adverse events. Graduate medical programs are addressing these shortcomings in a number of ways.

Methods: We have developed a computer simulation platform called the Virtual People Factory (VPF), which allows us to capture and simulate the dialogue between a real user and a virtual character.