Setting expectations for Virtual Reality (VR) simulation training

By admin | 19 Aug 2021

When introducing virtual reality (VR) simulation training into your school or faculty, it is important to set realistic expectations around what the technology can and can’t do, how it will be introduced and used, what training goals and objectives it will be addressing, the space VR will occupy in the overall curriculum, and how students will be evaluated.

This may sound like a tall order, so let’s break it down into actionable points.

What is VR simulation training?

Virtual Reality training involves the digital simulation of lifelike scenarios for training purposes. VR goes beyond watching procedures on a screen, allowing students to step into a realistic responsive 3D world that provides an active learning environment. Through VR students can experience sights and sounds and, in some cases even smells and touch, that enable them to transcend the barrier between the real and virtual worlds. 

Using a headset and controllers, trainees are able to observe, speak, move, and perform clinical procedures in a 3D virtual setting using simulated real-world tools and equipment, and sharing the experience with fellow students as well as AI-driven patient and medical professional avatars.

Seeing VR as more than just an expensive toy

As an emerging technology only finding mainstream traction in the last decade, virtual reality has been introduced to the world primarily as a tool for gaming. This can lead to misconceptions among fellow faculty members as well as students who may see VR as nothing more than an expensive toy rather than a serious teaching tool.

From a faculty point of view, this may hamper the implementation of VR into clinical training as senior members in particular may withhold their support. It may help to openly discuss the benefits and limitations of VR simulation training with sceptical staff members, and refer them to the overwhelming number of research papers supporting the efficacy of VR in medical training. Arranging a free trial of the software will also go a long way to overcoming these preconceived ideas. 

Introducing faculty to the benefits of VR simulation training

While real-life simulation of procedures is a cornerstone of clinical training, it is resource intensive requiring either clinical placements in working hospitals or clinics or the use of cadavers and simulation laboratories. With increasing pressures on budgets and limited availability of clinical placements and cadavers, VR offers a cost-effective training solution for medical professionals. 

For learners, VR makes accessing clinical experiences simple. The technology is easy to use and many Millenial and Gen Z students are already familiar with VR having used it to play video games. 

VR also reduces the risks involved in training, allowing medical trainees to make mistakes and learn by trial and error without endangering real life patients. This perceived psychological safety, along with the enjoyable nature of VR encourages student engagement and autonomous learning.

For institutions, VR systems take up very little space compared with simulation labs, they can be set up for a fraction of the cost and require fewer resources and hardly any extra staff training. Many VR systems work with no faculty required, allowing learners to access the VR system and take part in simulation whenever they like. This means skills development is no longer restricted to large centres with high setup budgets, but is open to much broader, flexible access. What’s more, faculty are freed up to focus on teaching skills such as  advanced communication skills or in situ simulation, which are not well-suited to VR training.

Students can access VR simulations almost anywhere using only a laptop, resulting in the integration of simulation-based education into everyday practice. Simulation then becomes a regular occurrence around other learning activities—rather than a once off experience which is soon forgotten.

Once VR training scenarios have been completed, learners receive virtual debriefing and can view automatically-generated feedback on their performance including both technical and non-technical skills. This feedback and debrief is central to the learning outcomes in any simulation, whether VR or physical.

Knowing how they have carried out the simulation relative to best practice, allows learners to examine their performance in more detail and opens up opportunities for blended learning. It also facilitates peer learning where learners share feedback with their fellows and mentors as a basis for discussing specific learning points.

Additionally, VR is highly repeatable and provides  standardised training that makes objective assessment easy, ensuring consistent quality and adherence to the latest institutional protocols. 

Teachers are able to extract valuable data on student progress that can be used to provide feedback to learners and implement effective interventions, resulting in more efficient skills development.

Allay concerns around VR and discuss its limitations

A key aspect in setting up expectations for VR training is to allay any concerns that VR will take over and replace the expert educator. The need for and value of human intervention and in-person training cannot be denied.

Due to limitations in artificial intelligence, virtual characters are unable to fully simulate the responses of real patients under certain circumstances. As a result, blended curricula that combine both VR and traditional training methods tend to yield the best results.

While it is extremely useful for teaching some techniques, VR is not a panacea. Rather, it is a technological tool that can be used to help students develop and practice specific skills and techniques. An important first step in introducing VR simulation into your overall curriculum is to decide on the training objectives you are looking to achieve and determine the most appropriate method of delivery. This will reveal the place that VR training occupies within the curriculum and help educators to set clear objectives for VR simulation training. 

Set clear objectives and build VR simulation training programs

VR is most effective when used to achieve a defined set of training objectives, and many immersive training systems allow the creation of bespoke VR simulation programs that meet specific training goals. 

Set assessment criteria for VR Training

VR simulation training programs make it simple to set up objective and standardised scenarios to ensure consistency and adherence to protocols, allowing institutions to embed their latest protocols into the training to ensure that trainee clinicians practice the appropriate procedures.

These systems can also generate large amounts of performance data that is valuable to monitor utilisation of the simulation, encourage learner engagement and for identifying struggling students who may benefit from further intervention and training.

Properly preparing students for VR training

In order to optimise the efficacy of virtual training, it is important to adequately prepare first time VR users, setting the right expectations for virtual reality training and ensuring that their first VR learning experience creates a strong foundation for their future virtual learning journey. 

Personalise your approach to suit your audience

Gauging students’ level of exposure and attitudes to the technology prior to introducing VR training, will give you an idea of how familiar they are with the technology and reveal any preconceived ideas they may have about VR. This will help you to plan a more relevant and personalised introduction of VR training into the learning environment.

Younger students who are more familiar with VR, will require a slower approach as they are likely to see VR as primarily for entertainment, an attitude that may hinder their abilities to take the learning experience seriously and therefore reduce its efficacy.

Proper preparation of students is vital to ensure the lesson does not get lost in translation between the virtual and the real world. The trainer needs to create an atmosphere of calm alertness and foster a critical-minded approach to the technique. The message needs to be “Yes, learning with VR is fun, however it is also important to take it seriously so you can apply the techniques to real world situations.”

Going beyond training for competency

The ultimate aim of introducing VR simulation training into the curriculum should be to move beyond training for competency and toward training for enhanced capability, resilience and continuity of safety across all stages of patient care.

The future of VR simulation training

Its potential to democratise the availability of quality medical training, makes VR an exciting prospect in healthcare training. The future of VR simulation training lies in its ongoing integration into curricula as well as with technological developments that allow more shared simulated clinical experiences. Such advances will facilitate quality interprofessional education at scale and independent of geography. This will transform how education is delivered to clinicians in future. 

If you would like to find out more about Medical Imaging Virtual Reality Training Systems, please reach out to our friendly team today.