Evaluation of different designs of virtual patients: first results using the eVIP evaluation instruments

Introduction: Application of electronic virtual patients (VPs) is not only restricted to the clinical part of medical education. VPs can be used in preclinical years as well as in advanced trainings for physicians. The presented study overviews and compares different designs of VPs in different educational scenarios and summarizes their evaluations. Methods: Due to the needs of each scenario the design of VPs got adjusted. The range of preclinical and clinical subjects comprised anatomy, biochemistry, child and youth psychiatry, paediatrics and others. In addition to the online evaluation through the students at the end of each VP, checklists completed by the VP designers got evaluated and compared due to each type of design using the eViP evaluation instruments. Results: Evaluation results will be presented in detail including weaknesses and strengths of design with respect to the scenario made for. Allover the feedback was encouraging and positive. A descriptive comparison of each type of design will be discussed including feedback of students and VP designers. Conclusions: VPs can be adjusted in design to suit different educational scenarios. The eViP design evaluation instruments proved to be helpful to further optimize VP design according to the scenarios used in.