Virtual Patient Simulation at UF

The University of Florida, College of Medicine (COM) and Computer Information Sciences and Engineering College (CISE) have been developing a comprehensive virtual patient (VP) program since 2004. Our collaboration has led a 26-person research effort (The Virtual Patients Group – www.virtualpatientsgroup.com) to create and refine the Interpersonal Simulator system (IPS).  IPS is a virtual reality (VR) system that provides a human to virtual human interaction that simulates a patient-doctor experience.

This technology fills several important gaps in current medical education. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recognizes the value of augmented technologies and has developed a series of guidelines for their implementation in medical curricula. However, even in these guidelines, the AAMC Executive team recognized that the details of implementation (when, where, etc) were not yet clear even in the role of well-established psychomotor skills and procedural training (low-technology) devices. Although the AAMC clearly nods in the direction of advanced technologies many questions remain about the timing and appropriateness of integration into curricula.