1. www.virtualpatients.eu Needs analysis for virtual patients: a report from the eViP programme David Davies, The University of Warwick, UK Chara Balasubramaniam, St George’s, University of London, UK Sören Huwendiek, University of Heidelberg, Germany Bas De Leng, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

2. www.virtualpatients.eu Overview o eViP is creating a bank of repurposed and enriched multicultural VPs from across Europe o Need to understand the current use of VPs o Need to determine future acceptance of eViP product to identify the marketplace o Conducted an international survey to gather evidence

3. www.virtualpatients.eu Survey methodology o Paper-based survey AMEE ’08 Prague o Online via SurveyMonkey o Awareness via… MedEdPortal MedBiquitous VP working group UK Higher Education Academy and other national email lists o Results pooled and analysed

4. www.virtualpatients.eu Survey structure 1. Background to the purpose of the survey 2. Current use of virtual patients, including educational settings, use in assessment etc 3. Potential future use of VPs including perceived barriers, curriculum areas best suited to VPs, etc 4. A collection of VPs including some outline business and licensing models 5. Information about respondent

5. www.virtualpatients.eu Results o 216 survey responses from 156 institutions o Contributions from USA, Europe, Asia & Australia o Summary of results in conference paper o Full report on eViP web site http://www.virtualpatients.eu

6. www.virtualpatients.eu Are VPs used somewhere in your curriculum?

7. www.virtualpatients.eu Which educational scenarios use VPs?

8. www.virtualpatients.eu Educational level where VPs are used

9. www.virtualpatients.eu Where do your VPs come from?

10. www.virtualpatients.eu Have you conducted any evaluation of VPs?

11. www.virtualpatients.eu Will you use VPs in the future?

12. www.virtualpatients.eu Yes… “modern way to enrich curriculum” “more students with less training time” “an important way of standardization” “there aren't many 'real' patients available for every student” “VPs are needed to ensure uniform exposure to patients across teaching sites and throughout the year”

13. www.virtualpatients.eu No… “Patient actors suffice and I believe are more spontaneous” “I don't consider it promotes learning” “It's not realistic enough”

14. www.virtualpatients.eu What educational approaches best suit VPs?

15. www.virtualpatients.eu What curriculum areas are best suited to VPs?

16. www.virtualpatients.eu Would be be willing to share your VPs?

17. www.virtualpatients.eu Main perceived barrier excluding time?

18. www.virtualpatients.eu On what cost basis should VPs be available?

19. www.virtualpatients.eu How much should VPs cost (in Euros)?

20. www.virtualpatients.eu Take home messages… o VPs are being used currently but more so in the future o Independent learning & PBL are perceived as most relevant educational scenarios o All curriculum areas are suitable for a VP approach o More evaluation of VP approach is needed o Cost is most important factor … but institutions should pay o People are willing to share VPs

21. www.virtualpatients.eu Next steps…

22. www.virtualpatients.eu Thank you! http://virtualpatients.eu