Reality Check: Virtual Reality can help bridge the medical education gap
Updated: Sep 28, 2021
Virtual reality can be used to help engage younger generations in medical and clinical education
On the dashboard, you have everything you need to manage your blog in one place. You can create new posts, set categories and more. To head to your DGlobally, we face a workforce crisis - a crisis that has predated our current pandemic. There are simply not enough skills available to fill medical roles needed globally and meet the demands of our globally growing (and ageing) population. Many places face inadequate domestic talent to fill healthcare-related roles, and rely on international talent to close this gap. In many cases, this international talent is trained differently and must climb a significant learning curve to be able to understand the principles and practice of medicine in more advanced markets.
Challenges include students not being able to match up a theoretical clinical understanding with a practical one, as their learning environments may not be representative of the expectations of modern medicine.
Interactive simulation technologies, like Virtual Reality, may be a way to bridge this gap. This technology can present information in a format that simulates the experience of clinical practice, and drives a very tangible understanding of what working looks like at that level. Implementing these advanced technologies like this in schools and colleges is likely to engage more young technology-hungry people in medicine as it appeals to younger generations who tend to engage with technology and interactive learning styles more effectively.
Not only is it particularly effective for teaching medical students, but can be tremendously useful in teaching at advanced levels - with very direct and tangible positive outcomes.. Studies show that the use of simulators had improved the final grades of 74% of students and improved outcomes in 87% of cases where VR technologies had been used as a training aid for surgery.
Immersive learning allows students to engage with and interact with topics they are learning in an effective way. In a world that demands more of our medical professionals, we must demand more of ourselves to be able to meet their increasing needs and close the knowledge gap. The reality is, virtual reality may just be the answer.
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