VIRTUAL PATIENTS AS THE TOOLS OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIVE TRAINING IN THE HIGHER MEDICAL EDUCATION OF USA

The system of higher medical education of the USA is characterized by the significant advance in the sphere of new technologies usage. The first computerized training programs for medical students were introduced in this country. Nowadays, new technologies including “virtual patients” (VP) are commonly used in undergraduate formal or hidden curriculum of US medical schools with the aim of professional and communicative training of future physicians. Thus, such valuable experience of the US medical education institutions may be useful for the development of higher medical education in other countries. The paper presents the historical overview and describes the evolution of computerized programs, ICTs and virtual patients in the system of higher medical education of the USA; researches the ways of virtual patients’ implementation in the structure of communicative and professional training in US medical schools and colleges; defines the notion of “virtual patient”; describes the types of VP and the methodology of their usage depending on the academic purpose; discusses the advantages, as well as the problems of VP usage in the curriculum and their possible solutions