title: A virtual practice environment to develop communication skills in pharmacy students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop communication skills in second-year pharmacy students using a virtual practice environment (VPE) and to assess students' and tutors' (instructors') experiences.
  
  
  METHODS
  A VPE capable of displaying life-sized photographic and video images and representing a pharmacy setting was constructed. Students viewed prescriptions and practiced role-playing with each other and explored the use of nonverbal communication in patient-pharmacist interactions. The VPE experiences were complemented with lectures, reflective journaling, language and learning support, and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most students believed the VPE was a useful teaching resource (87%) and agreed that the video component enabled them to contextualize patient problems (73%). While 45% of students questioned the usefulness of watching the role plays between students after they were video recorded, most (90%) identified improvement in their own communication as a result of participating in the tutorials. Most tutors felt comfortable using the technology. Focus group participants found the modified tutorials more engaging and aesthetically positive than in their previous experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The VPE provided an effective context for communication skills development classes.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. safeera.hussainy@monash.edu
authors.forename: Safeera Yasmeen
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Hussainy
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Styles
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Duncan
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003479:Curriculum; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D013339:Students, Pharmacy; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult