Twelve Tips for Utilizing Virtual Patients to Teach Professionalism

• Main Authors: Sue Murphy, Bita Imam, Laura Marie Whitehouse
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) 2016-10-01
• Series: MedEdPublish
• Subjects: Professionalism; Clinical teaching; Simulation
• Online Access: https://www.mededpublish.org/Manuscripts/594

Professionalism is an essential element of healthcare professional curriculum. However, teaching professionalism is complex and requires engaging and effective strategies. Virtual patients, in the form of computer-generated simulated clinical scenarios, can be used as a strategy to teach professionalism. The use of virtual patients provides an interactive and accessible learning tool along with opportunities for repetitive practice. This paper proposes twelve tips for utilizing virtual patients to teach healthcare professionalism. These tips are based on an extensive review of the relevant literature and the author's experience. The application of these tips may facilitate teaching professionalism using virtual patients and improve learning and retention of information.