Augmented Reality for Immersive and Enhanced Medical Education

Abstract

It is necessary to educate medical students to prepare them for the healthcare world they will enter upon completion of their training. This pertains to not only the content of the education, but also the experiences during the instruction, and the application of the learning. However, during their time in training, a student will likely not encounter all the ailments that they will while working. This means that their education should be supplemented to help them be better prepared. We propose augmented reality (AR) virtual patients as a method to assist in the delivery of this supplementation. This paper’s focus is on enhancing the usefulness of AR by providing learners with interactions with a variety of virtual patients. The target audience for this topic includes medical educators, medical school students, residents, educators interested in AR, and designers of educational AR systems. The mentioned topics can even apply to continuing education or refresher courses for physicians. A review of aspects that can allow AR to be more immersive and beneficial to those learning about various ailments is provided. Elements of AR for medical education training are discussed to enhance the relevance and applicability of the learning experience. These include presenting multiple simultaneous ailments and the ability to modify AR patient characteristics, which can be accomplished more quickly and with more possibilities than when using manikins.