In the dynamic field of Surgical Technology education, Palm Beach State College stands out, largely thanks to educators like Jo Lana Cota. In our recent conversation with Jo Lana Cota, she reveals an insightful journey into how the integration of PeriopSim VR is revolutionizing student engagement and learning.

Training in virtual reality should be accessible, comfortable, and most importantly safe for everyone involved, including those who wear glasses. 

If you have a vision impairment such as near-sightedness, the images you see in a VR headset might appear blurry or distorted without any corrective lenses. If you do not wear your glasses while using the VR headset, it may result in eye strain, headaches, and discomfort. 

Let’s talk about motion sickness: it can sometimes be a problem for a small percentage of people when they put on a headset and enter a VR experience. It can also be a debatable situation as we’ll discuss further down. Unfortunately, a lot of people have had past experiences in VR that weren’t the most optimal. From that epic rollercoaster ride that was poorly edited, to crawling on a plank thousands of feet above the ground, we can all understand why some people express hesitancy when entering VR. 

In this exclusive interview, we dive into the experiences and insights of Yolanda Ramirez and Marissa Gonzales, educators at Texas State Technical College. They share their journey with PeriopSim and PeriopSim VR, discussing how these innovative tools have transformed their teaching and enhanced their students' learning experiences.

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is “How do we cast what the VR user is seeing to an external monitor?”.  When casting from your headset, the VR user can share what they see in VR wirelessly, making it a more inclusive experience for all involved. The VR view will appear on the external device you choose, allowing a user to share their VR experience in real-time.  

As in any operating room environment, or classroom for that matter, one of the most critical areas to pay attention to is sanitization. Running a VR training program means that sharing is often involved. There’s no getting around the fact that everyone is covered in sweat and oil. Because of this, it’s important to keep the headsets as clean as possible.

We really enjoyed sitting down to connect with Megan Graham, CST/RST Surgical Technologist Program, Primary Instructor at Renton Technical College in Renton, WA.  

Implementing a VR training component to your lab can be a daunting process to the uninformed, so we’re here to help you with deciding what type of headset is right for your program. 

Bunker Hill Community College's Surgical Technology Program needed a solution when the pandemic went online. A year later, the Surgical Technology Program is still using it! Jayne MacPherson, Department Chair at Bunker Hill Community College met with James Hay and Jumana Mascati from PeriopSim in Fall 2021 to do an overview of the first year using PeriopSim, and here's what she had to say: