title: Virtual patients come of age.
abstract: On-screen simulations of clinical settings have been used for educational purposes since the 1970s. Despite this, it is only now that these 'virtual patients' are increasingly forming a part of the medical education mainstream. Enabling factors for these changes include a requirement for more assured clinical encounters, changes in patient availability (in particular, in tertiary contexts), diminishing technical and cost barriers and ongoing changes in educational practices as a whole. This special edition of Medical Teacher presents a number of papers covering key factors in the development, use and evaluation of virtual patients in contemporary medical education practice.
authors.affiliation: Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Canada. rachel.ellaway@normed.ca
authors.forename: Rachel H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Ellaway
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Poulton
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Smothers
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Greene
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans