vpSim is an easy-to-use, virtual patient authoring system designed by the team at The Laboratory for Educational Technology.
Virtual patients (VPs) are computer-based simulations of medical cases for education and assessment. The Lab recognized barriers to development of VPs including high cost, complex authoring software and difficulty creating and visualizing complex branched decision paths. vpSim was developed to provide an authoring environment for medical educators that required minimal training and stimulated creative case writing.
vpSim is an easy-to-use, virtual patient authoring system designed by the team at The Laboratory for Educational Technology.
Virtual patients (VPs) are computer-based simulations of medical cases for education and assessment. The Lab recognized barriers to development of VPs including high cost, complex authoring software and difficulty creating and visualizing complex branched decision paths. vpSim was developed to provide an authoring environment for medical educators that required minimal training and stimulated creative case writing.
vpSim uses a Flash-based drag-and-drop visual interface for case design by representing screens and decisions with a map of nodes and branches. Patient data is added to each node using simple web forms that approximate the resulting on-screen appearance of the case. Features, based on user feedback, include multimedia support and counters to track score, money, and time.
In 2017, vpSim was moved to a more robust, secure and modern server environment on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It was also updated with a responsive design to make it mobile friendly and provide a clean, modern user interface for students.
University groups actively using vpSim:
- School of Dental Medicine
- School of Education
- School of Information Sciences
- School of Pharmacy
- School of Physical Therapy
- Education Technology Services
- Wiser
School of Medicine courses using vpSim:
- BFH- Pulmonary
- CAMPC
- Cell communications and Pharmacology
- Digestion and Nutrition
- Ethics, Law and Professionalism
- Family Medicine Clerkship
- Hematology
- ICS
- Neuroscience
- Tissues in Health and Disease
- Women’s Health
This project is a more than a C++ project, it is a framework for simulation of virtual particles interacting at real-time.
The particles interact between them by gravitational, electrical, or elastic forces.
VPSim Features:
- 6 different graphics modes, from 640x480 (extended) to native full-screen.
- Change scales XY
- Change the time-signature +/-
- Run / Pause / Stop / Reset
- Real-time Info: Center of Mass, Velocity C.M., Temperature
- Save graphic at any moment
- Multi-Thread Support
Remember, vpSim is a free and very complete patient audit, and it is written vpSim, not vp Sim.
