Experience with using second life for medical education in a family and community medicine education unit

BACKGROUND The application of new technologies to the education of health professionals is both a challenge and a necessity. Virtual worlds are increasingly being explored as a support for education. AIM The aim of this work is to study the suitability of Second Life (SL) as an educational tool for primary healthcare professionals. METHODS DESIGN Qualitative study of accredited clinical sessions in SL included in a continuing professional development (CPD) programme for primary healthcare professionals. LOCATION Zaragoza I Zone Family and Community Medicine Education Unit (EU) and 9 health centres operated by the Aragonese Health Service, Aragon, Spain. METHOD The EU held two training workshops in SL for 16 healthcare professionals from 9 health centres by means of two workshops, and requested them to facilitate clinical sessions in SL. Attendance was open to all personnel from the EU and the 9 health centres. After a trail period of clinical sessions held at 5 health centres between May and November 2010, the CPD-accredited clinical sessions were held at 9 health centres between February and April 2011. PARTICIPANTS 76 healthcare professionals attended the CPD-accredited clinical sessions in SL. MAIN MEASUREMENTS Questionnaire on completion of the clinical sessions. RESULTS Response rate: 42-100%. Questionnaire completed by each health centre on completion of the CPD-accredited clinical sessions: Access to SL: 2 centres were unable to gain access. Sound problems: 0% (0/9). Image problems: 0% (0/9). Voice/text chat: used in 100% (10/9); 0 incidents. Questionnaire completed by participants in the CPD-accredited clinical sessions: Preference for SL as a tool: 100% (76/76). Strengths of this method: 74% (56/76) considered it eliminated the need to travel; 68% (52/76) believed it made more effective use of educational resources; and 47% (36/76) considered it improved accessibility. Weaknesses: 91% (69/76) experienced technical problems, while; 9% (7/76) thought it was impersonal and with little interaction. 65.79% (50/76) believed it was better than other distance learning methods and 38.16% (29/76) believed it was better than face-to-face learning. CONCLUSIONS SL is a tool that allows educational activities to be designed that involve a number of health centres in different geographical locations, consequently eliminating the need to travel and making more effective use of educational resources.