Remote medical training against COVID-19 now possible with “virtual patient”

Virti, a virtual and augmented reality platform that enables remote medical training through immersive environments, released their latest AI-powered invention, “Virtual patient”. The learning modules were recognized as one of the best inventions of 2020 by TIME magazine.  The platform allows medical students and professionals to receive remote medical training. Trainees can learn to wear protective gear, administer treatments and ventilators and develop other soft skills in an immersive role-play training experience. 

“Virti’s COVID-19 modules teach frontline workers around the world skills like the right way to wear personal protective equipment, administer treatment or ventilate a patient.” said TIME staff writer Jamie Ducharme.

Launched by trauma surgeon Alex Young in 2018, Virti was used to put workers in high-stress simulations, evaluate their responses and give feedback. Now, the technology will be used to develop training for COVID-19, to help medical teams cope better with critical conditions amid the pandemic.

 “We’ve been working with healthcare organizations for several years, but the pandemic has created really specific challenges that technology is helping to solve. It’s no longer safe or practicable to have 30 medics in a room with an actor, honing their clinical soft-skills.” Said Dr. Young. “With our virtual patient technology, we’ve created an extremely realistic and repeatable experience that can provide feedback in real-time. This means clinicians and students can continue to learn valuable skills.”

Adopting AR/VR remote medical training comes with a wealth of advantages. According to TIME magazine’s Jamie Ducharme, a company study revealed that Virti’s system showed 230% greater knowledge retention.

Such education and training methods may become commonplace in the future perhaps in more fields and for younger learners.