The virtual visit: Using immersive technology to visit hospitals during social distancing and beyond

Medical trainees face substantial financial and scheduling burdens during the interview process at various levels of training. With current social distancing and travel restrictions in place, in-person interviews now carry an additional health risk that make it difficult for training programs and applicants to conduct a thorough interview process. Virtual interviews and presentations are some of the technology-driven solutions that have been accelerated in the current social context to mitigate financial burdens and health risks. By utilizing immersive technology to provide virtual tours of training sites, applicants have the opportunity to gain a comprehensive perspective before making the critical decision of where to continue their training. We provide our experiences with creating a 360-degree virtual tour of our children's hospital and the methods for distribution to pediatric anesthesia fellowship applicants. Moving forward, training programs may consider immersive virtual tours as an alternative to face-to-face site visits to not only help alleviate the financial and scheduling burden for applicants but also to protect the well-being of healthcare personnel and patients in the context of a global pandemic.