Abstract
The system of higher medical education of the USA is characterized by the significant advance in the sphere of new technologies usage. The first computerized training programs for medical students were introduced in this country. Nowadays, new technologies including “virtual patients” (VP) are commonly used in undergraduate formal or hidden curriculum of US medical schools with the aim of professional and communicative training of future physicians. Thus, such valuable experience of the US medical education institutions may be useful for the development of higher medical education in other countries. The paper presents the historical overview and describes the evolution of computerized programs, ICTs and virtual patients in the system of higher medical education of the USA; researches the ways of virtual patients’ implementation in the structure of communicative and professional training in US medical schools and colleges; defines the notion of “virtual patient”; describes the types of VP and the methodology of their usage depending on the academic purpose; discusses the advantages, as well as the problems of VP usage in the curriculum and their possible solutions.
Highlights
The system of US higher medical education is characterized by significant advance in the sphere of new technologies usage for professional communicative training in particular
The up-to-date data concerning the use of virtual patients (VPs) in training of future physicians for professional communication were retrieved from the official web-sites of acting US universities
The scientists who worked in the direction of computerization of the learning process at higher medical education institutions (HMEI), followed an idea of educational modernization and creation of additional means of future physicians’ professional training
Summary
The system of US higher medical education is characterized by significant advance in the sphere of new technologies usage for professional communicative training in particular. The most common ICT tools of professional communicative training include computer technologies, virtual patients (VP), virtual learning environments, electronic mobile devices, electronic social media (ESM) and other digital technologies and smart accessories that are the elements of formal and informal curriculums at higher medical education institutions (HMEI). 2. Theoretical background The proceedings of International and World conferences on the problems of professional communication and the use of new technologies and virtual patients, in particular, for this type of activity as well as the current scientific papers in the field of higher medical education and learning materials for medical educators form the theoretical basis of the research.
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