Imperial College London has recently launched a new online course on Extended Reality (XR) in Healthcare Education and Clinical Practice, adding to the university’s online library of short courses, which also includes Digital Health, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Clinical Researchers, MSc/PgDip in Digital Health Leadership, and Imperial Business Analytics: From Data to Decisions.
The new course, which Imperial has made available on Coursera, recognises XR’s “potent force with the capability to reshape the healthcare education and clinical practice landscapes”.
Designed for “a diverse audience” including healthcare professionals, educators and technical experts, the course provides participants with knowledge and skills in a range of areas, including the different types of XR technologies, the opportunities for XR application in practice, and XR hardware and software selection. “Whether one seeks to enter the world of XR or is already involved in healthcare, this course promises to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to leverage XR’s potential effectively,” the university shares.
Based on interdisciplinary collaboration, Imperial’s course brings together learning and insights from clinical academics, medical educators, project managers and media experts. It was co-created by a team including the Department for Surgery & Cancer’s James Kinross and Jason Lawson; Sajan Patel from Imperial’s School of Medicine; the Interdisciplinary EdTech Lab and the Digital Media Lab.
Imperial states: “The fundamental goal of this online course is to help people who are excited about XR make a real impact on medical education and clinical practices. By teaching essential concepts and sharing practical examples, learners will study how to leverage XR technologies to benefit healthcare education and clinical practice.”
To find out more about Imperial’s range of online courses, please click here.
On the use of this type of technology in practice, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT (CUH) has explored the role of mixed reality to improve and optimise how staff deliver clinical care, and how the trust trains and educates staff.
Elsewhere, the UK Research and Innovation unit has revealed a series of new digital therapeutic solutions to receive a share of £3 million in funding.
