“I was amazed at how realistic it was,” said Dr. Peter Ferguson, the head of orthopedic surgery at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, who first tried the goggle-based VR system in his living room.

“I went to our faculty and I said this is something that we really have to get on board with.”

The medical school soon bought a dozen of the made-in-Canada virtual reality systems, allowing surgical residents to practice knee replacements, resetting broken legs, or drilling into bone to install supportive screws, all through a simulated process Dr. Ferguson describes as “a blast.”

He sees the system as an opportunity to reduce risk, even beyond COVID-19. For instance, in hospitals where medical students are taught, studies have shown patients are more likely to experience problems post-surgery.

“That’s a fact,” says the surgeon for the largest health network in Canada. “So if we can decrease that incidence of complications by allowing these individuals to become more competent in this low-stakes environment, it will theoretically improve patient outcomes.”

Full article: CBC