What is a virtual hospital and why is it perfect for medical internships?

A virtual hospital is a faithfully recreated clinical environment designed to safely train medical professionals. It offers all the same sights, sounds, and situations as a real hospital without any of the risk. 

It is a perfect hospital replica, using similar designs, materials, and equipment to accurately recreate the professional experience on a smaller scale. They will include triage areas, consultation rooms, intensive care units, and operating theatres. 

The virtual hospital will be “staffed” by experienced professionals, acting as instructors to you (the trainee). Guided by experienced clinical instructors, trainees practise diagnoses, perform emergency interventions, and hone essential skills in a safe, simulated clinical environment. Your patients are often hyper-realistic mannequins that will faithfully react to your actions.

Virtual hospitals are most often attached to universities and other higher education centres to provide comprehensive training before entering the world of work. They provide the most accurate kind of experiential learning available in the medical field. 

Typically, they are reserved for students aged 18 or over, but some allow medical work experience for teenagers too. 

Virtual hospitals provide a safe and controlled environment for medical interns, students, and professionals to learn and develop in the medical field. They can freely practise and acquire skills while avoiding all risk to any patients. 

In a simulated environment, you can:

• take the initiative without needing guidance from a senior doctor 
• make mistakes and learn from them without putting a life in danger 
• easily replicate rare or high-stakes events, like heart attacks and births
• have access to practical training that would otherwise be difficult to organise
• observe without getting in the way of normal hospital operations
• track metrics and review performance in a modular way 

All of this leads to an active learning experience that is more engaging and easier to remember than traditional lectures or observations. 

Making mistakes is one of the most effective ways of learning, since you can find out what you did wrong and make sure to avoid it next time. That is not an option on the frontlines of medical treatment, where every mistake can potentially result in loss of life.

It also provides students with more confidence going into real clinical settings, since they have hours of practice in a simulated environment. 

For students, getting experience in a virtual hospital can be difficult due to a limited number of facilities and the popularity of training there. For aspiring teenage medical students, it is even harder to find one that will accept under 18s. 

Luckily, with our Medical Internship in Spain for Teenagers, you can work at our partnered virtual hospital in Valencia, Spain, and experience this state-of-the-art facility for yourself. You’ll also shadow medical professionals in real clinical settings and learn about healthcare in a modern, European country.

Across two weeks, you’ll be exposed to 27 hours of simulated medical training in the Valencia Catholic University’s purpose-built virtual hospital guided by local healthcare experts. You’ll also attend medical workshops and conduct administrative tasks to understand all aspects of working in healthcare. 

Our medical internships are all about giving you the edge you need on medical school applications and helping you stand out from the crowd. However, a core part of this experience is breaking out of your comfort zone and developing key life skills on your travels too. It’s also the ideal way to keep learning during your school break whilst having fun, seeing the world, and meeting new people who share your passion for medicine and healthcare. 

With 24/7 support from our staff, you’ll immerse yourself in Spanish culture securely, explore the stunning city of Valencia (Spain’s third largest city), and head on thrilling weekend excursions. As a result, you’ll return home more confident and independent, having built connections around the world, and developed a global perspective on healthcare.