Virtual patients for knowledge sharing and clinical practice training: A gamified approach

In this paper, we report the experimentation of QUESt, a Web-based tool designed to disseminate case-based knowledge in communities of experts, in the domain of medical training. To this aim, QUESt allowed the teachers of a specialization medical school to create virtual patients in the form of interactive online questionnaires and have students interact with these in a clinical contest. We discuss the results to argue that virtual patients and similar tools can foster the discussion and dissemination of case-oriented medical knowledge if used in lightly gamified initiatives, where participation is more important than winning.