College of Medicine – Phoenix Releases First Virtual Reality Experience for Physician Training

Physicians-in-training can virtually step into the operating room and learn complex medical procedures from faculty at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

The medical school in downtown Phoenix will launch its first virtual reality experience for surgery this week at the 2019 AAMC Learn Serve Lead Conference, where attendees will see first-hand the surgical skills of renowned neurosurgeon Peter Nakaji, MD, chair of the College’s Department of Neurosurgery at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix.

The video is about five minutes, which represents just a small portion of the normally five-hour surgery. Those who view the virtual reality training will see Dr. Nakaji clip a complex aneurysm in a major artery of the brain.

“This was an important surgery to capture because though it is complex, we can show how an excellent team and preparation can make it smooth, with a great outcome for the patient,” Dr. Nakaji said.

The goal is to create a library with a wide range of virtual reality experiences for patient education, patient engagement, surgeon training and team training. The college already offers several other virtual reality training experiences such as a Mentice trainer, which simulates endovascular procedures, and an EyeSim, an ophthalmic training device.

“VR creates a feeling of ‘being there’ that is much more engaging than regular videos,” Dr. Nakaji said. “A video screen demands your attention, but our attention doesn’t work like that. Everyone wants to hover on different details. With VR, you can look around the operating room at what interests you, even as you listen. Don’t like blood? You can look away. Want to focus on the surgery? You can do that.”

Dr. Nakaji added, “This is a great technology for health care. When you are in the VR world, you remember it like you were there. Relatively speaking, this is a cutting-edge technology, which is actually inexpensive to deploy. We plan to embrace it.”