As more and more technologies support the upcoming Metaverse, virtual reality is one of them (Pearl, 2022). The latest news going around in the land of VR is the release of Anatomage VR, a VR application enabling users to explore real human bodies in the metaverse (Sprigg, 2022). This VR application enables medical students to actually see through a real human body – users can trace veins, arteries, blood flow, and much more aspects of human anatomy.
Not only does the application allow medical students to examine the human anatomy in VR, but it also enables medical students to analyze real-life pathology cases of 300+ CT & MRI scans of actual patients (Foster, 2022). VR can be used in other forms of anatomy education too, like dissection simulations, surgical simulations, and also patient care simulations (Karbasi & Kalhori, 2020). It also has many more benefits for medical students, like increased motivation and more engagement during lessons, as well as fewer distractions (Primal Pictures, 2020).
Now – I think it has become clear to you that VR and the Metaverse offer various benefits to medical students when it comes to human anatomy learnings. But can they fully replace teacher-led learning? One can argue that it will replace teacher-led learning for various reasons, the most prominent one being that the knowledge retention rate of teacher-led learning still surpasses the knowledge retention rate of VR learning (Primal Pictures, 2020). However, one very significant benefit is that VR and the Metaverse, but also similar technologies ensure a safe and risk-free learning space, improving outcomes and also making students feel more comfortable.
I would say these technologies are definitely at the future of medical education. Even though knowledge retention rate is still somewhat lower compared to teacher-led learning, the pros definitely outweigh the cons if you would ask me. Please let me know if you think otherwise 😉
Foster, J. (2022, October 4). Anatomy VR brings Interactive Anatomy Learning to The Metaverse. Retrieved from PR Newswire: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anatomage-vr-brings-interactive-anatomy-learning-to-the-metaverse-301639704.html
Karbasi, Z., & Kalhori, S. R. (2020). Application and evaluation of virtual technologies for anatomy education to medical students: A review. Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 34(163).
Pearl, A. (2022, June 7). Five Technologies that Power the Metaverse. Retrieved from Data Science Central: https://www.datasciencecentral.com/five-technologies-that-power-the-metaverse/
Primal Pictures. (2022, October 3). Could the Metaverse help drive the future of anatomy education? Retrieved from Primal Pictures: https://www.primalpictures.com/blogs/metaverse-future-anatomy-education/
Sprigg, S. (2022, October 5). Anatomage VR brings interactive anatomy learning to the metaverse. Retrieved from Auganix: https://www.datasciencecentral.com/five-technologies-that-power-the-metaverse/
Hi Fleur,
Interesting article about how VR can be used in anatomy education. I agree that this is the future of medical education! However, I do believe that (at least for now) a combination of teacher-led learning and VR learning would be best for now, since knowledge-retention rate is still lower, and I think this is an important aspect of medical education. Do you know if this has already been implemented in medical teaching institutions? Excited to see what all these new technologies could mean for the future of medical education!