FaCULTY Resources
Virtual Reality / Games
Directory of medical Sites in Second Life
http://www.paeaonline.org/index.php?ht=a/GetDocumentAction/i/131037
This is a good place to begin any exploration of medical places in the virtual world "Second Life", as using the search feature of Second Life does not differentiate between game role play and serious virtual clinical experiences
Developed by Donald Coerver PhD, PA-C
dac6@u.washington.edu.
Dr Carver just lists the resources and provides links, but does not assess quality.
Some of these offer excellent virtual world experiences, others just house resources that could be better accessed on a standard web page.
I'll be visiting these sites from time to time and let you know what is worth visiting.
Reviews will be posted to this page.
PublicHealthGames.com is a site that deals with virtual reality simulations of public health emergencies and response. It was developed by and is maintained by The Center for the Advancement of Distance Education (CADE) - a self-supporting unit within the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago It looks like it might have some interesting useful teaching resources http://www.publichealthgames.com/
Second Health
A virtual clinical island in Second Life developed by The Imperial College of London Faculty of Medicine. Has a virtual hospital with excellent clinical simulations. This looks like a very high quality project, Construction of simulations is excellent and makes good use of virtual world environment for pedagogy.Has some videos that allow you to observe a virtual world clinical experience without logging into SecondLife
These folks are very orgainzed / funded - Govt funding I think. If you only look at one virtual reality clinical site, this is the one
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http://secondhealth.wordpress.com/clinical-scenarios/
The future of healthcare in virtual worlds has more about Imperial College London's initiaive.
Gerontology Education Island
A Project by the College of Nursing at the University of Utah. The buildings are impressive, and contain a lot of useful resources, but at first glance it appears that the island mostly functions as a document / resource repository, and as a virtual classroom space - excellent material posted there, but all better done by Elluminate, Macromedia Breeze, and web pages.
Review of some postings about how university of Utah is using Second Life to introduce students to what homeless people experience sounds like excellent use, but at this time the island itself doesnt have much to offer in terms of a quality virtual clinical experience.
Virtual worlds have excellent potential in the field of Gerontology. I hope they do more to leverage the potential of the environment.
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Preferred Family Healthcare Island
Appears to be primarily a venue for online tobacco cessation meetings. Does not appear to offer any virtual clinical experiences. http://pfh.org/virtualworld/tobacco.php
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Virtual Hallucinations
A UC Davis sponsored schizophrenia education building. An immersive virtual experience in what it is like to be schizophrenic. Convincing aural and visual hallucinations. Creepy, powerful, disturbing, but educational - excellent use of the virtual world environment to teach about mental illness. Definitely worth a look
Video tour of the simulation
Address of simulation in Second Life
Warning - disturbing content!
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Sbarro Health
http://www.shro.org/SHRO/Iindex.html
This is the Second Life headquarters of a real life cancer research organization . Has molecular models, exam rooms, with what appears to be working equipment, looks like it has a good foundation for roleplay and clinical simulation - basic CPR, not a lot developed yet.
SHRO, Sbarro Health Research Organization, Medicine, 3D proteins, 3D Cell, Antonio Giordano, hospital, genetics, biomolecular, webinar, Italia, Philadelphia, Biology, university, elearning, Pennsylvania, psycho oncology, science, teaching
Biomedicine Research Labs (193, 215, 24) ***
This appears to be a virtual worlds clinical simulation user group. They appear to have an island in Second Life but I was unable to reach it. Bad Link?
We may be able to learn a lot about teaching health care in virtual worlds from these folks. "The Ann Myers Medical Center aims to educate medical students and nurses in the virtual environment of Second Life. In monthly meetings, students can learn from educators through interactive and clearly visualized case presentations. Regularly there are speeches on several topics. Click here for more details and pictures."
Ann Myers Medical Center
http://ammc.wordpress.com/
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