Three principles for the progress of immersive technologies in healthcare training & education

The COVID-19 crisis has fundamentally transformed the healthcare training and education landscape. There is now a desperate need for a system-wide exploration of scalable, flexible and resilient solutions that can mitigate the long-term impact on the development of a skilled healthcare workforce. A new generation of immersive technologies (e.g., augmented and virtual reality) have the potential to address many of these issues but their potential is yet to be realised. We recently brought together clinicians, researchers and industry under the banner of the ‘Immersive Healthcare Collaboration’, to create a set of principles to maiximise the utility of these technologies for training and education. Here, we provide a summary of the principles outlined in this Immersive Healthcare Collaboration report. Principle 1 states that the design and development of immersive tools should be driven by learning requirements and informed by the science of human behaviour and cognition. Principle 2 emphasises the need for rigorous evaluation prior to, and during, implementation through an adoption of open science and transparent research practices. In Principle 3 we propose that the first two principles will be best achieved by fostering a culture of collaboration, inclusivity and solidarity between developers, scientists, educationalists and healthcare professionals. From the lessons learned during the pandemic it is clear that the healthcare system is poised for a training and education delivery reform. By following these principles, we are optimistic that the potential of immersive technologies can be harnessed for the benefit of the healthcare community and the delivery of patient care.