High value and low-cost virtual reality healthcare professional education: proceedings of a roundtable workshop

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Introduction The following represents proceedings of an online roundtable workshop on high value and low-cost virtual reality healthcare professional education. The purpose of the workshop was to seek the views of professionals from different sectors and different countries on moving toward high value and low-cost virtual reality education. The workshop was comprised of eight delegates with an interest in this subject. The delegates were from Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. They represented different sectors - including clinical medicine, educational economics, health professional education, simulation, technology, evidence-based methodologies, and industry. Themes The following themes emerged from the workshop: the challenge of thinking about the cost of virtual reality from the points of view of the payer and the user; the core need to define the context of use of virtual reality; the absolute need to define the purpose of a virtual reality programme; the recognition of the growing opportunity of multiplayer virtual reality; the need to exploit the unique properties of virtual reality; the importance of realising that there are already various forms of virtual reality available and these can achieve different outcomes at different costs; the need to integrate virtual reality into the rest of the curriculum; and the various forms of cost analysis that might be suitable for evaluating the cost and outcomes of virtual reality. Conclusions In the long-term, a growing body of evidence that is based on original research and systematic reviews will help us decide what is high value and low-cost virtual reality in healthcare professional education. However, a strategic approach is needed to ensure that the original research concentrates on the right topics that will yield the most value to education decision-makers and to other related stakeholders. We feel that non-hierarchical interdisciplinary roundtable discussions are an effective means of planning strategy.