WV Press Release Sharing
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine is the first and only medical school in West Virginia to purchase SimX virtual reality medical simulation and is in a select group (including the Mayo Clinic, the U.S. Air Force, and Stanford University) that is using it currently.
Media invited to Embassy Suites in Charleston at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 28, to see this technology in action.
WHAT: Demonstration of virtual reality as a cutting-edge educational tool for medical students – the first of its kind in West Virginia
WHEN: 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 28.
WHERE: Embassy Suites, Charleston, W.Va.
WHO: West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine
WHY: Greater efficiencies; students can be remote and “tune into” a medical scenario, simulating all the actions they would take if “live” on the scene.
Audience: Physicians
Interviewees: Dr. Jim Nemitz, President, WV School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM)
Dr. Linda Boyd, Dean/Vice President of Academic Affairs, WVSOM
Jenny Patton, Clinical Evaluation Center, WVSOM
On-Site WVSOM Media Contact: Linda Arnold
304-553-1200 (cell)
Background:
VIRTUAL REALITY AS A MEDICAL TRAINING TOOL
When you think of virtual reality, images of video games and 3D movies may be the first thoughts to cross your mind. However, the technology is also expanding its reach into educational environments.
Medical students at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) have a new method of learning patient scenarios, one that uses a headset and hand controllers in a virtual reality simulation.
WVSOM is the first medical school in the state to purchase SimX virtual reality medical simulation. Other entities currently using the technology include the Mayo Clinic, the U.S. Air Force and Stanford University.
Virtual reality enables distance learning. Instructors and students can work from different locations and join in the virtual reality realm to work through the same cases.
Currently, SimX is the only system that lets one run in-person multiplayer cases and just as they would occur in real life.
More than 150 scenarios, 30 different environments, and 300 tools and procedures can be incorporated into the virtual reality technology.
Students can be placed in an environment where they triage a patient in a helicopter, deal with a mass-casualty explosion, or handle a pediatric patient who collapsed during physical education class, to name a few.