AR Is Getting Med Students Back In Hospitals

There’s no denying that future doctors put in a lot of time hitting the books; classroom training is imperative for med students. That said, ultimately those students also need some real life medical experience to truly learn the tricks of the trade.

Seeing the job in real time is invaluable to medical students. Unfortunately, the traditional process is one that can be awkward and uncomfortable for the students, the doctor, and the patients being seen on the rounds. Imagine sitting in a hospital bed and having your doctor and a group of med students all shuffle in, each trying to get an ideal view of your malady.

Imperial College in London, England may have just found the perfect work-around for this inopportune, but essential part of a doctor’s training. The college is sending its medical students on virtual rounds with the help of augmented reality in the form of Microsoft’s HoloLens glasses. 

The physician dons the glasses and makes his/her regular rounds at the hospital. The students can both see and hear what’s going on during the visits with patients. Perhaps even more impressive, the doctor can attach images (such as x-rays and medical charts) to the display that the students see. The physician can even emphasize certain areas of interest for the students by drawing on the images.

The idea to use augmented reality for this purpose came from the current world challenges. Due to the constraints of the pandemic, medical students have been unable to get into hospitals to get real-world training. 

The hope is that this new form of training will make the experience more comfortable for the patients, more far reaching for the students (as they can learn from anywhere) and safer for everyone.

Augmented reality can get your customers face-to-face with your products again too. Contact The Realizers today to find out how.