The Web-enabled and interactive approach to medical education today is different from the Flexner-dominated approach of the 20th century. Less emphasis is currently placed on seminars while more attention is focused on learning through early clinical experience, virtual patients and other simulations. In this article, Dr. Joel Arun Sursas reviews current virtual reality (VR) training technology, examines the potential of VR technology and identifies the promises and dangers posed by VR use in medical education.
Current Virtual Reality Technology Used in Medical Training
VR technology provides training methods that are computer-generated simulations of actual training scenarios that have been traditionally used for training medical students in clinical environments. There are two basic categories of simulated training situations, augmented reality and VR.
Augmented reality uses images and sensory feedback that is imposed on real-world models. Augmented reality might use image overlays on manikins to simulate internal organs or surface conditions.
VR technology creates an entirely immersive and artificial reality wherein everything the user sees and interacts with are purely virtual images and sensory inputs. Leading medical schools are currently making extensive use of VR technology as part of ordinary coursework training. For example, Stanford University School of Medicine is using a VR platform to assist with surgical training. Students are able to use VR goggles to interact with and view images of human brains created from multiple brain scans, working with and manipulating three-dimensional images of actual brain structures. The VR experience serves as a prelude to working with actual brain structure studies from cadavers. The power of virtual dissection serves to provide more effective training when students are ready to take on working with actual physical structures. [1]
VR surgical training is a valuable tool for students and residents who have traditionally had deficiencies in independently performing surgeries even after years of residency training. VR provides a close approximation of hand-on training that is typically only experienced once on a cadaver before actual surgical practice begins.
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