Teaching Tip: Virtual Oncology Clinic

Abstract

Due to limitations in traditional approaches to didactic and clinical learning, professional veterinary medical students face challenges in developing skills and competencies related to clinical practice. The Veterinary Information Network’s (VIN) Virtual Clinic (VVC) aims to support learning by using gaming techniques to simulate clinical case management in a low-risk setting. The VVC lets students explore medical scenarios inside a virtual hospital. The purpose of this article is to describe the development and implementation of a learning approach that blends classroom instructor-directed learning with online simulation-based learning, using the VVC. We share challenges and successes of this approach. The case vignettes in the specific example described herein are for canine multicentric lymphoma. However, the lessons learned through the implementation of this oncology clinic module are expected to apply to a wide range of clinical disciplines.