A VR Solution to offset the limitations of traditional classroom training and empower medical students in India with adequate practical exposure.
Overview
Our project aims to support medical students in India as they navigate the challenges of studying anatomy and conducting dissections. Talking with friends who have undergone and are currently undergoing medical training, we uncovered the challenges they faced during the anatomy and dissection classes.
After thorough research and analysis through interviews, we designed a VR application named Surgery Pal to provide students with a platform to practice until they achieve confidence and readiness to undertake real-life patient interactions. A simulated version of the application was presented to participants for further feedback.
TIMELINE
Sept'23 - Dec'23
TOOLS
Figma, Figjam, Procreate
MY ROLE
UX Generalist
Problem
Medical students in India often face challenges in gaining adequate practical exposure and training in Anatomy/Dissection.
Through preliminary research, talking to friends and lecturers in medical universities, we identified a few reasons for this
Breaking down the problem:
Problem #1
Large batch sizes
The issue stems from the considerable number of students per batch, averaging around 200. This volume makes it challenging for each student to access cadavers for practical learning
Problem #2
Lack of sufficient number of cadavers
Building upon the first problem, there is a notable scarcity of cadavers donated to universities. With most medical institutions in India relying on donation-based systems, the increasing student population exacerbates the shortfall.
Consequently, the limited cadaver availability results in reduced individual learning time and some students missing out on crucial practice opportunities.
Problem #3
Unbearable odor from cadavers
Despite the expectation for medical students to tolerate unpleasant sights and odors, the initial exposure to cadaver scent often induces severe feelings of nausea and dizziness.
While medical training encompasses various challenges, the overwhelming smell poses a significant initial barrier for students.
1
Difficulty to identify internal organs.
“Since the dissected parts have been stored for a while it's not
"ideal ". Once one person dissects it, the others can get a look but it's not the same.”
“In your textbooks everything looks different and nicely labeled but its very hard to actually distinguish between different body part once you open up a body.”
How might we make it easier for students to identify and distinguish internal body parts during dissections, even after they have been practiced on by others?
Our Approach
"Our VR application aims at empowering medical students to apply their knowledge and practice their skills in a virtual setting till they are proficient enough to apply them on real patients."
Research
Background
Traditionally, medical education involves a combination of theoretical instruction in classrooms and hands-on clinical training in hospitals, allowing students to gain practical experience.
However, there has been a recent surge in the integration of technology into medical education, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indian market for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) is projected to experience substantial growth, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 38% expected by 2027 due to technological advancements.
Defining the problem through research
Our team conducted interviews with 10 medical students from India, all conducted remotely via Zoom.
Fifty percent of the participants graduated from medical universities in 2022 and are currently preparing for postgraduate studies, while the remaining participants graduated between 2018 and 2021 and are focusing on specialization.
Through these interviews, we identified 3 key trends which were further broken down and organized through Affinity Diagramming.
Teaching of anatomy and dissection in India's current education system
Medical students issues and approach to learning and practicing dissection.
Students thoughts on using VR for education
Pain Points
So what exactly are the students saying?
1. Difficulty to identify internal organs.
“Since the dissected parts have been stored for a while it's not ideal. Once one person dissects it, the others can get a look but it's not the same.”
“In your textbooks everything looks different and nicely labeled but its very hard to actually distinguish between different body part once you open up a body.”
How might we make it easier for students to identify and distinguish internal body parts during dissections, even after they have been practiced on by others?
2. Lack of sufficient resources apart from textbooks and referring videos online.
“Used Medical Atlas book, we had typical human bones set for every student to learn more about the bones, muscles, arteries”
"Understood previous surgery experiences from seniors. Some things that you just can’t learn from a book. Better to hear it in person."
How might we make it easier for students to identify and distinguish internal body parts during dissections, even after they have been practiced on by others?
3. Difference in experiences on cadavers vs real patients.
“In dissections you don't need to be precise at all, it's okay if you cut a lil more here and there. But real surgeries are not like that at all. You have to be extremely precise.”
“During real-life experiences - Patients are awake (especially if it's a local anesthesia situation) and you have to appear to be very confident because no one wants a rookie doctor.”
How might we make it easier for students to identify and distinguish internal body parts during dissections, even after they have been practiced on by others?
Personas
Once we identified the top-level trends from our affinity diagram, we created 4 user personas.
User Flow and Information Architecture
To define the design direction we referred to persona no 1. "Arya" as our target audience.
We created a scenario that would guide our information architecture and user flow.
Scenario : Performing a Virtual Forearm Bone Surgery
Arya is a postgraduate medical student preparing for her clinicals. She wishes to learn how to perform hand surgery. She learns about the Surgery Pal application, logs in, and does a virtual hand operation with ease and learn how it’s done.
Low Fidelity Screens
Design
Solutions
By using two Figma Plugins called Draft XR and 3D for XR, we created the final prototypes and a walk-through video depicting the primary persona Arya's user journey.
Design Solution #1
Gamification of Surgery Pal to maintain user engagement.
-
With the goal of keeping students engaged, we've introduced gamification features to our application.
-
We incorporated features such as building and maintaining streaks and collect coins after completion of a practice session.
-
Students now have the option to choose between practicing Surgery or Anatomy, or taking on daily challenges.
-
Additionally, students can access analytics for their practice sessions and quizzes.
-
To further incentivize and motivate participation, we've implemented a Leaderboard feature.
Design Solution #2
Ensuring Precision and Accuracy in Surgery with Surgery Pal
Precision and accuracy are utmost importance in surgical procedures, and to uphold these standards, Surgery Pal incorporates several key features:
-
A progress bar provides users with visibility on pending tasks.
-
Tooltips offer guidance through each action, ensuring users execute procedures accurately.
-
Yellow markers aid in precise equipment positioning, enhancing accuracy during surgical operations.
Design Solution #3
Ensuring Precision and Accuracy in Surgery with Surgery Pal
-
To facilitate progress tracking and maintain precision and accuracy throughout surgeries, Surgery Pal features a progress ring.
-
This dynamic tool updates users on the completion percentage of each task in real-time, helping them stay focused and maintain optimal performance.
Design Solution #4
Surgery Pal provides Analytics and Feedback on user performance.
-
Understanding the importance of practical learning, Surgery Pal offers detailed analytics and feedback to help students enhance their skills.
-
This report provides valuable insights into user performance, aiding in continuous improvement and skill development.
Final Walkthrough Video
Click on the button to view all artifacts related to Surgery Pal.
REFLECTIONS
-
Our goal was to assess the potential benefits of integrating VR technology into the medical student curriculum in India. We aimed to address this inquiry through a process of research, reflection, and continuous refinement of our designs as we gained new insights at each stage.
-
Over the course of three months, I personally experienced significant growth and learning. This project provided a valuable opportunity for the entire team to delve into a new area of expertise: designing a VR application, which none of us had prior experience with.
-
Furthermore, we expanded our knowledge and enhanced our skills in various areas, including teamwork, conducting interviews, and effectively applying our findings to the project.
-
One significant challenge we faced as a group was determining the most suitable approach for creating VR prototypes. After extensive research and exploration, we ultimately opted to utilize Figma along with plugins such as Draft XR and 3D for XR to construct our final prototype. To facilitate user understanding, we also recorded a video walkthrough, followed by conducting usability testing.