Andrzej A. Kononowicz,
Aleksandra J. Stachoń, Irena Roterman-Konieczna
Virtual Patient as a Tool for Problem Based-Learning in the Context of the European Project eViP

The aim of the paper is to present the foundations of electronic virtual patients' structure and function. Virtual patients form a new tool which can be applied in e-learning for problem based-learning (PBL) scenarios. Their basic types, usage scenarios and problems encountered in their construction are presented in this paper. As an example of an initiative fostering exchange of this kind of clinical simulators, a European project - eViP - is introduced, aiming at creation of a pan-European database of repurposed and enriched virtual patients. Tools supporting problem based-learning, like virtual patients, gain a lot of attention in medicine, but they may also be applied in teaching of other disciplines.