{"id":20584,"date":"2017-06-14T13:58:13","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T17:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=20584"},"modified":"2021-05-21T07:38:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T11:38:06","slug":"north-arizona-university-and-ohio-university-360-degree-clinical-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/north-arizona-university-and-ohio-university-360-degree-clinical-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"North Arizona University & Ohio University Bring 360-Degree Clinical Immersive Experience to Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

What does an emergency room (ER) bring to mind? A fast-paced environment where medical professionals move around quickly and decisively, making life-or-death decisions daily. Now, imagine plunging students into the midst of the action. It’s sink or swim time for these students, who don\u2019t have the luxury to ease themselves into the stressful ER environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students need field experience, and the ER is used as a training ground to give them first-hand experience. And how are the students prepared for their foray into this reality?<\/span> Usually, by way of a classroom simulation where students and faculty act out ER scenarios. That is, up until now. Students will soon have access to something much better — a <\/span>360-degree immersive experience<\/span><\/a> that will make them feel they are actually in the ER without being physically there. <\/span><\/p>\n

Petra Williams<\/span><\/a>, a professor of physical therapy at Northern Arizona University (NAU), and her husband <\/span>Eric Williams<\/span><\/a>, an associate professor of Ohio University\u2019s School of Media Arts and Studies and co-creator of the <\/span>Immersive Media Initiative<\/span><\/a>, have teamed up to find a better solution to prepare students for clinical work. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Immersive Media Initiative was <\/span>awarded<\/span><\/a> an $878,000 grant from the Ohio University Innovations Strategy Funds in February 2016 to develop virtual and augmented reality in various academic programs. The initiative was then expanded to include Petra Williams\u2019 work as well as other academics and clinicians in the U.S., who also aim to prepare future health care professionals for clinical experience through the use of 360-degree immersive virtual reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Williamses use 360-degree video cameras and audio equipment to capture all that\u2019s going on in an emergency room, including \u201cdoctors yelling, computers beeping, patients bleeding and in pain as health care providers work on them.\u201d The fist-sized cameras are placed at eye level, so student users feel they are part of the action, not merely an observer. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Williamses call their immersive experience \u201cpreality,\u201d or a preparation for reality. The situation is real, and involves places that students will actually be working in, so student users feel they\u2019ve lived the experience even though they are not physically present. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019re in it, it\u2019s like you\u2019re right there,\u201d Petra Williams told TUN. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come out of it and think, \u2018I just watched all of that.\u2019 It helps to prepare for the emotional part of this environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n