European pharmacy students' experience with virtual patient technology.
OBJECTIVE
To describe how virtual patients are being used to simulate real-life clinical scenarios in undergraduate pharmacy education in Europe.


METHODS
One hundred ninety-four participants at the 2011 Congress of the European Pharmaceutical Students Association (EPSA) completed an exploratory cross-sectional survey instrument.


RESULTS
Of the 46 universities and 23 countries represented at the EPSA Congress, only 12 students from 6 universities in 6 different countries reported having experience with virtual patient technology. The students were satisfied with the virtual patient technology and considered it more useful as a teaching and learning tool than an assessment tool. Respondents who had not used virtual patient technology expressed support regarding its potential benefits in pharmacy education. French and Dutch students were significantly less interested in virtual patient technology than were their counterparts from other European countries.


CONCLUSIONS
The limited use of virtual patients in pharmacy education in Europe suggests the need for initiatives to increase the use of virtual patient technology and the benefits of computer-assisted learning in pharmacy education.
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Portugal. acavaco@ff.ul.pt
Afonso Miguel
AM
Cavaco
Filipe
F
Madeira
D003198:Computer Simulation; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000379:methods*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012580:Schools, Pharmacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013339:Students, Pharmacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult