Virtual Patients & Clinical Avatars

A major challenge for OSCE’s in clinical training is standardisation of the process and ensuring appropriate access for students. The School of Pharmacy have developed 3D characters in a virtual environment to simulate interaction between the learner and a virtual patient or clinical virtual actor (avatar). Interaction with the computer generated character is possible through the use of multiple choice questions or ‘natural’ free text questions. This means students or qualified healthcare professionals can refresh their communication and clinical skills on-line at their convenience. Each patient can be programmed with different scenarios and medical history.

Free text input allows Virtual Patients to ‘grow’ in intelligence. The patient’s knowledgebase and many responses are located on the internet, which provides the ability for virtual patients to respond to new questions.

At the center of each virtual patient case is a ‘decision tree’ providing clinical experience and published evidence basis for a case. It also provides a mechanism to assess the learner consistently against learning outcomes. The virtual patient gives an animated audio response to the learner at the conclusion of a virtual consultation, providing tailor-made feedback on your performance.

Introduction Professor Stephen Chapman (Professor of Prescribing Studies and Head of School of Pharmacy) introduces the Virtual Consultancy Project and explains how this work supports the teaching and learning requirements of the School of Pharmacy. Virtual Patient Demo Try a flash based interactive demo of the Virtual Patient software in action. Demonstration of the Virtual Patient Dyspepsia Scenario A walkthrough of the class-room based system, with the learner taking on the role of a Pharmacist discussing an acute stomach ache with a virtual patient. KAVE (Keele Active Virtual Environment) The use of a 3D virtual immersive environment to enhance student learning