title: Virtual patient repositories--a comparative analysis.
abstract: Virtual Patients (VPs) are an important component of medical education. One way to reduce the costs for creating VPs is sharing through repositories. We conducted a literature review to identify existing repositories and analyzed the 17 included repositories in regards to the search functions and metadata they provide. Most repositories provided some metadata such as title or description, whereas other data, such as educational objectives, were less frequent. Future research could, in cooperation with the repository provider, investigate user expectations and usage patterns.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Didaktik und Ausbildungsforschung in der Medizin, Klinikum der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Küfner
authors.affiliation: Department of Learning, Informatics Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Andrzej A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kononowicz
authors.affiliation: Institut für Didaktik und Ausbildungsforschung in der Medizin, Klinikum der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany.
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hege
mesh_terms: D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods*; D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000458:organization & administration; D020407:Internet; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D016544:Patient Simulation; D014584:User-Computer Interface