Medical education: simulation and virtual reality

Abstract

IIMedical training in general, and surgical training especially, has always been based on learning the theory, followed by clinical experience gained through students' direct contact with patients. Technological evolution within education is progressively but definitively giving rise to a new stage in this process: simulation.Simulation as a form of learning gained strength in the 1930s through the popularization of the first flight simulator, which was known as the "Link Trainer". The idea of teaching in simulated situations quickly drew the attention of people involved in teaching medicine, but because of the technical difficulties and cost, no great advances were viable at that time. The first simulator within medicine that achieved widespread acceptance was developed at the beginning of the 1960s by Åsmund Laerdal, a manufacturer of plastic toys. His simulator consisted of a dummy that was designed to provide training for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; it became known as "Resusci Anne". It was so successful that the product continued to be refined over the years, to reach the present day with a variety of improvements that enable effective training for dealing with cardiorespiratory arrest. The interest in this subject among the medical community can be gauged from the large number of papers relating to this that are available in the literature. Today, a search in the PubMed database using the term "medical simulation training" retrieves a total of 4,360 articles. The first of these dates from the 1960s, with a notable increase in concentration over the last few years.The literature provides information on viable and efficient models and simulators destined for teaching about cardiopulmonary resuscitation, vascular accesses, video laparoscopy, anesthesia procedures and techniques within obstetrics, endoscopy and orthopedics, and so on.In addition to the papers describing the various methods, such as the study by Savata, 3 which described the use of virtual reality for surgical training, other studies have aimed to demonstrate what the real impact on learning would be. For example, the study by Grantcharov et al. 4 examined the use of a virtual reality simulator to improve resident physicians' ability to learn how to perform cholecystectomy by means of video laparoscopy, through a randomized trial on 16 students. Although their results are questionable, they indicate that the students trained with a simulator presented improvements in performance, with regard to shorter time taken to carry out the procedure (P = 0.021) and a lower rate of unnecessary movements (P = 0.003).In the 1990s, Brazilian medical schools started to increase their interest in simulation as a teaching method. Dissemination of courses such as Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) throughout the national territory can be noted as a major factor in spreading the use of simulated situations in this country, especially using dummies. In

Successful implementation of ChicaEducation system for Oncology Residency Standardized Training

“…And students can repeatedly operate without the risk of making errors 1 . Furthermore, instructors can make better assessments of their students' skills through VR tools 13 .…”

Successful implementation of ChicaEducation system for Oncology Residency Standardized Training

“…And students can repeatedly operate without the risk of making errors (Boejen & Grau, 2011). Furthermore, instructors can make better assessments of their students' skills through VR tools (Mariani & Pego-Fernandes, 2011).…”

The Utility of Virtual Patient Simulations for Clinical Reasoning Education

“…Further, other reports have indicated that future medical education will make advancements through the implementation of digital tools such as video, audio, and simulators [ 1 , 4 , 6 ]. In fact, since the 1990s, research has especially focused on the application of virtual simulation technology to medical education [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Currently, virtual simulation including virtual patient is helpful in pre-clinical education, which can now utilize 3D images to teach subjects such as anatomy and pathology [ 13 , 14 ], training for pediatric surgery and laparoscopy [ 15 , 16 ], bioethics [ 17 ], and tracheal intubation techniques [ 18 ].…”