The VCA will be a large, comprehensive, well documented, classified and professionally validated collection of virtual cases.
It is being developed by e-Learning for Healthcare (e-LfH) in partnership with medical professional bodies who utilise images as a regular part of clinical practice and will be the preferred online archive of virtual cases.
Unique to the NHS and from a reliable and trusted source, the VCA will provide trainees with free access to:
Alan Ryan, e-LfH National Programme Director commented on the project:
"Our ambition is to develop the VCA into a learning tool for professionals from all medical disciplines. To achieve this we are working in partnership with people from a broad range of medical specialities including Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Pathology and Radiology, to ensure we produce a fit for purpose product."
"During June and July this year we will be sharing a VCA prototype with the four clinical specialities. We want to gain feedback on the product and the process of managing the VCA. It is important that we get this right as the Professional Bodies for each clinical specialty will be responsible for producing and uploading case material to the VCA. e-LfH will help to co-ordinate this process during the initial stages but ultimately the success of the VCA will be dependent on the quality of its content."
"We anticipate the VCA will be ready for general use from early 2011, however the task of pre-populating the archive will require dedicated clinicians to contribute case material during 2010. Similarly, the quality of the archive will be dependent on the commitment of clinicians and trainees to continue to contribute a wide range of cases, from the exceptional to the straightforward."
