The University of Waterloo, one among the two optometry schools in Canada, has begun the operation of their first Virtual reality Optometry lab – The FYidoctors Simulation Lab. This will enable students to train in the field of optometry with the aid of VR, helping them to easily diagnose problems and learn new skills. The virtual reality optometry lab costs a whopping $1.5-million and is first of its kind.
The headset will simulate a virtual eye and students can practice their skills on the virtual eye until they reach perfection.
“With the simulators, optometry students will now take the time they need to practice and master skills as they progress through increasingly complex training modules,” said Stanley Woo, director of the School of Optometry and Vision Science at Waterloo.
In conventional training methods, students had to learn a large part of optometry from textbook pictures. Examinations and practice were done on a healthy eye, and they would not be getting in-depth experience as with real patients, qualified doctors take the helm to prevent clinical errors. So students had to wait a long time, referencing off pictures and demonstrations before they would do a procedure themselves.
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The new @FYIdoctors Simulation Lab is the first #virtualreality lab of its kind in Canada. It will help #uwaterloo Optometry students become faster and more confident when it comes to diagnosing vision problems and diseases says #eyehealth pic.twitter.com/B2GH32EC2t
— UW Optometry (@UwOptometry) October 1, 2018
Since the eye is one of the most delicate parts of the human body, students tend to have fear when performing procedures on a patient. With the VR lab, Waterloo University is aiming at changing the teaching methods to empower students to learn better and faster. The visual simulation is that they see through the visor
“Simulation technology is the future of healthcare learning and is directly aligned with the FYidoctors spirit of harnessing innovation to help our patients lead more fulfilling lives,” said Dr. Al Ulsifer, CEO and chairperson of FYidoctors.
The simulation is in line with the syllabus structured for the students. The training modules are becoming harder as the student progresses through each one of them. The idea for a virtual reality optometry lab was conceptualized by FYidoctors in 2008, a group consisting of University of Waterloo optometry grads who want to see more of technologically advanced optometry centers in Canada.