VR technology set to standardise and improve medical training

Virtual reality (VR) technology through its numerous applications has found its way into the healthcare and medical training industry through the advancement of virtual medical simulation technology.

This growth, largely led by the recent pandemic has witnessed the application of VR technology that has changed the medical training landscape by transforming the way healthcare professionals prepare for real-life situations.

The use of VR by medical education and training institutions is now widespread as not only a training tool but also as a way for surgeons and senior medical professionals to share their experiences with trainee doctors.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reports that by 2032, the United States will experience a shortage of about 23,000 surgeons.

AAMC chief health care officer, Janis Orlowski, MD said, “Fewer surgeons mean greater access issues for patients and delays in care, leading to morbidity and mortality.”

“Academic medicine leaders are concerned about this growing problem and are exploring various solutions to ensure that America’s health care needs are met,” Orlowski added.

The use of VR technology can help healthcare professionals and students to practice and learn valuable skills while addressing the lack of training standardisation while solving some of the pain points experienced by the medical industry caused by a lack of training standardisation.

These technologies enable the use of 3D operating room simulations, as well as provides training for surgeons and support chronic pain management, and mental health treatment.

Traditionally, medical students use cadavers to learn about human anatomy but by using anatomy VR programmes, students can explore different parts of the body and see how the body’s various systems work together.

VR technology will also enable trainee doctors to access and view areas inside the human body that would not be generally accessible through traditional training methods.

This technology allows medical students and professionals the ability to see a range of medical conditions virtually before they see them in a patient.

Students and residents at Stanford University, through the use of VR goggles, are able to observe congenital defects in an infant’s heart.

The use of 360 ̊CGI reconstructions to create training scenarios can replicate common surgical procedures that bolster medical training.

In a virtually simulated environment, all the features of activity such as duration, severity, and type of feedback can be adopted based on the type of treatment and individuals’ ability.

Additionally, individuals can monitor their results and correct their performance through these technology tools.

A study also found that the use of VR has improved learning in 74% of studies and higher accuracy in medical practice by people trained through VR has been reported in 87% of the cases.

The results indicate that the application of virtual reality capabilities plays an important role in improving the performance of different medical groups.

These results suggest that virtual reality capabilities should be used to train different medical groups based on their individual and collective needs.

Aside from improving how medical training is delivered, VR can also be helpful in guiding patients through complex procedures and medical concepts.

With this visual technology, patients will be able to see how certain medical devices, procedures, or medication works and this will assist doctors to improve communication with their patients.