The Virtual Health Professions Advisor (VHPA) initiative is a collaborative project funded by the Ohio Board of Regents as well as the Clement O. Miniger Memorial Foundation. The project incorporates two major components, a web site www.virtualadvisor.org, as well as a videoconferencing component. 
The partners collaborating in the VHPA initiative include both content and delivery partners. Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, and Owens Community College serve as content partners and COSI Toledo, the Toledo Public Schools, Toledo Lucas County Public Library, and the North West Ohio Computer Association serve as delivery partners for the initiative.
The VHPA web site provides information about the variety of health careers available for people deciding on their first career as well as those planning a career change.
A virtual advisor, Leslie, assists the web surfer with an assessment to help identify potential careers of interest. Once potential careers are suggested, the user can find out general information about the university, specifics about the programs available or more details on the career from the Bureau of LaborStatistics web site.
The site was designed and developed by the Center for Creative Instruction (CCI) at UT, and is entirely database driven.
The videoconferencing component includes live weekly videoconferences hosted by the universities and delivered to the schools, COSI, or the Library. Each videoconference relates to a specific health career and a health professional provides specific information about the career to the audience. Students and other viewers can ask questions and actively participate in the live conferences. In addition, the conferences are archived and made available on the VHPA website for viewing with either RealMedia or QuickTime players. The primary videoconferencing equipment used for the project is Polycom FX and 128 Viewstations.