Developing practical criteria for evaluating online patient simulations: a preliminary study

Online patient simulations are increasingly used in medical education. However, uniform criteria for evaluating simulations don't exist. This study explored expert opinion regarding the essential components of online simulations. Preliminary criteria were examined through a survey of 22 medical educators and follow-up interviews with nine educators. Features involving routine tasks and the teaching of problem solving skills-histories, physicals, labs, and differential diagnoses were highly rated. Features conveying realism such as time constraints and the use of multimedia were ranked lower. Interviewees noted three impediments to wider use of simulations: time required to develop content, limits of current technology and the absence of usable authoring tools.