<s>
The	O
term	O
virtual	B-Application
patient	I-Application
is	O
used	O
to	O
describe	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
computer	B-Application
simulations	I-Application
used	O
in	O
health	O
care	O
education	O
to	O
train	O
students	O
on	O
clinical	O
processes	O
such	O
as	O
making	O
diagnoses	O
and	O
therapeutic	O
decisions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
attempt	O
to	O
combine	O
modern	O
technologies	O
and	O
game-based	O
learning	O
to	O
facilitate	O
education	O
,	O
and	O
complement	O
real	O
clinical	O
training	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
is	O
increasing	O
in	O
healthcare	O
due	O
to	O
increased	O
demands	O
on	O
healthcare	O
professionals	O
,	O
education	O
of	O
healthcare	O
trainees	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
provide	O
learners	O
with	O
a	O
safe	O
practice	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
many	O
different	O
formats	O
from	O
which	O
a	O
virtual	B-Application
patient	I-Application
may	O
choose	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
overarching	O
principle	O
is	O
that	O
of	O
interactivity	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
typically	O
have	O
mechanisms	O
where	O
information	O
is	O
parsed	O
out	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
learners	O
,	O
simulating	O
how	O
patients	O
respond	O
to	O
different	O
treatments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interactivity	B-General_Concept
is	O
often	O
included	O
with	O
questions	O
,	O
specific	O
decision-making	O
tasks	O
,	O
text-composition	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
are	O
not	O
full	O
simulations	O
themselves	O
,	O
but	O
are	O
mainly	O
based	O
on	O
paper-based	O
cases	O
;	O
as	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
allow	O
for	O
physical	O
examination	O
,	O
or	O
an	O
in-depth	O
medical	O
history	O
of	O
a	O
real	O
patient	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
may	O
take	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
forms	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Interactive	B-General_Concept
Patient	O
Scenario	O
:	O
multimedia	O
patient	O
case	O
designed	O
to	O
teach	O
clinical	O
reasoning	O
skills	O
such	O
as	O
diagnostic	O
test	O
ordering	O
and	O
interpretation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
Patient	I-Application
Game	O
:	O
interactive	B-General_Concept
clinical	O
scenarios	O
that	O
take	O
place	O
in	O
an	O
entirely	O
virtual	O
world	O
designed	O
to	O
practice	O
team	O
training	O
in	O
high	O
risk	O
situations	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
complete	O
with	O
simulated	B-Application
,	O
real-time	O
vitals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	O
Standardized	B-Application
Patient	I-Application
:	O
an	O
artificially	O
intelligent	O
patient	O
designed	O
with	O
natural	O
language	O
capabilities	O
to	O
assist	O
in	O
training	O
provider-patient	O
communication	O
skills	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
different	O
modes	O
of	O
virtual	B-Application
patient	I-Application
delivery	O
have	O
been	O
defined	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
have	O
been	O
shown	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
time-efficient	O
and	O
cost-effective	O
method	O
of	O
developing	O
clinical	O
reasoning	O
skills	O
in	O
students	O
through	O
independent	O
and	O
repeated	O
practice	O
of	O
physician	O
tasks	O
in	O
a	O
safe	O
environment	O
without	O
the	O
risk	O
of	O
harm	O
to	O
the	O
patient	O
or	O
learner	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
significantly	O
increase	O
the	O
mental	O
pool	O
of	O
learned	O
cases	O
in	O
students	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
simulated	B-Application
or	O
real	O
patients	O
,	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
on	O
demand	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
user	O
may	O
monitor	O
a	O
case	O
over	O
several	O
months	O
while	O
spending	O
less	O
than	O
an	O
hour	O
in	O
real-time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Furthermore	O
,	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
can	O
be	O
endlessly	O
replayable	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
easily	O
modified	O
to	O
allow	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
explore	O
different	O
clinical	O
scenarios	O
and	O
patient	O
outcomes.In	O
comparison	O
to	O
simulated	B-Application
patients	I-Application
,	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
standardized	O
assessment	O
that	O
minimizes	O
variance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
their	O
efficacy	O
,	O
simulated	B-Application
patients	I-Application
are	O
still	O
a	O
tangent	O
and	O
prosthesis	O
to	O
reality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MedBiquitous	O
consortium	O
established	O
a	O
working	O
group	O
in	O
2005	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
free	O
and	O
open	O
data	O
standard	O
for	O
expressing	O
and	O
exchanging	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
between	O
different	O
authoring	O
and	O
delivery	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
in	O
part	O
to	O
address	O
the	O
problem	O
of	O
exchanging	O
and	O
reusing	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
and	O
in	O
part	O
to	O
encourage	O
and	O
support	O
easier	O
and	O
wider	O
use	O
of	O
virtual	B-Application
patients	I-Application
in	O
general	O
.	O
</s>
