Canada: Queen's University invests in a virtual reality medical training centre

Queen's University, based in Canada, is investing in a virtual reality (VR) medical training centre. On October 10, the university announced its project to build a 20 to 30 m2 facility that will be entirely dedicated to VR learning. The implementation of the work was entrusted to SimForHealth, a French company specialised in publishing digital simulators for health training. According to Jérôme Leleu, President of SimForHealth, VR training is increasingly being recognised, but this is the first time a centre has been specifically dedicated to it. Initially, two or three fixed stations equipped with autonomous HTC Vive Pro headsets, will be installed in this centre to introduce students and teams to this technology. Following this, Queen's University will expand the size of the institution and the number of positions available. The objective of this project is to give learners the opportunity to simulate several clinical interventions under realistic conditions. Thus, if they manage to make mistakes as beginners, it will be in a virtual reality, and not on real patients. The centre will be open from the beginning of 2019.