A remote access mixed reality teaching ward round

Heterogeneous access to clinical learning opportunities and inconsistency in teaching is a common source of dissatisfaction among medical students. This was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with limited exposure to patients for clinical teaching.

We conducted a proof-of-concept study at a London teaching hospital using mixed reality (MR) technology (HoloLens2™) to deliver a remote access teaching ward round.

Students unanimously agreed that use of this technology was enjoyable and provided teaching that was otherwise inaccessible. The majority of participants gave positive feedback on the MR (holographic) content used (n = 8 out of 11) and agreed they could interact with and have their questions answered by the clinician leading the ward round (n = 9). Quantitative and free text feedback from students, patients and faculty members demonstrated that this is a feasible, acceptable and effective method for delivery of clinical education.

We have used this technology in a novel way to transform the delivery of medical education and enable consistent access to high-quality teaching. This can now be integrated across the curriculum and will include remote access to specialist clinics and surgery. A library of bespoke MR educational resources will be created for future generations of medical students and doctors to use on an international scale.