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(https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/rcsi-reveals-worlds-first-vr-medical-training-simulator)
VR in the ER- RCSI reveals world’s first VR medical training simulator
by John Kennedy
22/07/2016
The VR app allows users to simulate emergency room management of a patient following a road accident
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has developed what it claims is the world’s first fully interactive virtual reality training simulator.
The simulator app – entitled the RCSI VR Medical Training Sim – allows users to simulate emergency room management of a patient following a road accident.
The app puts medical professionals and trainees in the shoes of the Emergency Department trauma team leader where they must assess the patient, make life or death decisions in real time and perform life-saving operative procedures as a surgeon would in a real emergency room.
‘This app gives surgical trainees a lasting memory of a real immersive trauma room experience, which is much more valuable than just learning about it in a classroom’
– DONNCHA RYAN, RCSI
The app was developed in conjunction with Immersive Education VR, a former Siliconrepublic.com
VR enables radical educationchange
The VR app is focused on providing both undergraduate medical students and post-graduate medical and surgical trainees with new learning opportunities.
“This is the first fully interactive medical training simulator in the world which has been made publicly available and we are very excited about the potential it holds for future surgeons,” said Professor Oscar Traynor, director of the National Surgical Training Centre at RCSI.
“Giving trainees the opportunity to practice commonly encountered life or death procedures outside of a clinical environment will help ensure optimum patient safety and outcomes when it comes to performing such surgeries in real-life.
“The students are given the opportunity to experience highly realistic clinical scenarios, make critical decisions and act on those decisions. Ultimately the VR app will better prepare them for real-world experiences and we’re proud thatRCSIis the first institution in the world offering this type of training to our students.”
The app has been released to the public on the Oculus Virtual Reality platform and is optimised for Samsung Gear VR.
“Virtual reality is the most radical technological change we’ve seen since the mobile phone and the opportunities it poses for education are vast,” said Donncha Ryan, learning technology manager at RCSI.
“This app gives surgical trainees a lasting memory of a real immersive trauma room experience, which is much more valuable than just learning about it in a classroom.”