Main description:

Medical education, training and care delivery in a virtual world provides a one-stop shop for educators, universities and researchers looking to employ virtual worlds for delivering medical education, training and employ virtual worlds for clinical purposes. The book provides theoretical basis and practical resources for virtual-environment-driven medical education and healthcare. It discusses virtual worlds and their basic characteristics, compares virtual social environments with conventional face-to-face interaction, provides guidance for setting up a virtual world, and discusses issues including the capabilities and suitability of commercial virtual worlds for medical education and healthcare applications, related research efforts, and ethical and financial considerations.

Contents:

Introduction to virtual worlds; Virtual worlds: Some examples; Techniques; Setting the virtual universe; Setting your avatars; Setting the interactions; Meetings in virtual worlds; Applications; Training for technical and cognitive skills in virtual worlds; Team training in virtual environments; Validating virtual world training; Delivery of clinical care through virtual worlds: Guidelines, challenges and opportunities; Ethical and financial issues of virtual worlds.