Case study: Virtual reality at Vanderbilt

How the academic medical center designed a virtual reality course for point-of-care ultrasound training

Teaching a hands-on process using virtual reality (VR) may sound counterintuitive, but that’s exactly what Vanderbilt University’s medical school and eLearning Brothers have done. Using the latter’s CenarioVR^® technology, the two created and designed an award-winning VR training course on point-of-care (POC) ultrasound.

The program is a 14-week course that combines exam-based weekly modules with 16 hours of hands-on training. It can be accessed via smartphone, computer, or VR headset, and gives users a 360° view of the patient room while the instructor walks them through the lesson. The VR program has meant that Vanderbilt was able to avoid buying five additional ultrasound training machines, saving them $425,000 in new equipment and putting less wear and tear on their existing machines.

The project was a collaborative effort between John Blackmon, the chief technology officer for eLearning Brothers, Jeff S. Gordon, PhD, a professor of educational informatics at Vanderbilt, and Susanna Rudy, DNP, MSN, MFS, AG-ACNP, FNP-BC, ENP, CCRN, an instructor at Vanderbilt’s nurse practitioner program who created the POC course used in the VR training.

This is an excerpt from members-only content. Please log in or become a member to access the full content.