Virtual Communities of Practice as Mentoring Tools in Health Professions Education and Practice

Abstract

Virtual communities of practice refer to people who form a group that meets virtually through online platforms. The purpose of the meeting is to share expertise, passion, interests, and that translates into an independent society. The concept of virtual communities of practice is derived from communities of practice, which is a term coined by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger in the early 1990s and is underpinned by the theory of situated learning. Other theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of virtual communities of practices and mentoring are Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of human learning, legitimate peripheral participation, zone of proximal development, and scaffolding. Although there are benefits offered by virtual communities of practice, literature seems to be limited to how they are used as tools for sharing information and improving practices. Owing to that, this chapter describes how virtual communities of practices may be used as mentoring tools in health professions education and practice.