Virtual Tools in Medical Education

Abstract

Technology has become ubiquitous throughout medical education. Currently there is a wide range of tools that can be used to supplement traditional classroom and clinical learning. Simulators and mobile devices are among the tools that may make an especially significant impact on educating medical practitioners. Simulators range from simple part-task trainers to complex high-fidelity human patient simulators. Internet-enabled handheld portable computers such as the iPad® have begun to revolutionize and expand the medical classroom to even further reaches. Instructional design principles maintain that these technologies can and should be used to allow practitioners to learn by playing. Blind investment in these technologies, however, can quickly turn these technologies into a waste of time and money. We present principles intended to ensure that factors such as cost, size and technological expertise are taken into consideration when investing in such technologies for medical education. Following these principles will allow a medical department to optimize the cost-benefit ratio of an investment in simulation and portable computer technology for medical education.