Medical students at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine use virtual reality to study anatomy
LEWISBURG, WV (WVNS) — Medical students at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine can now study anatomy through the use of virtual reality.
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The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) started using virtual reality for clinical scenarios two years ago, however anatomy is a new addition where medical students will be able to test the technology through the use of hand controllers and headsets to dive into anatomy simulations.
Our students, when given the opportunity to self-select, have found virtual reality to be valuable because it’s a different way to visualize material they would often only see on a two-dimensional sheet of paper. It’s a different way to experience anatomy. Right now we are in the testing phase to figure out if we want to incorporate it into the curriculum — is it something that is mandatory during lab or is it a support tool? We need to determine how it is best adopted. What is the best technique for student performance and how will it increase student performance?
Katie Williams | Ph.D., WVSOM’s director of academic technology and support
There are 22 anatomy virtual reality headsets at WVSOM, four of which are instructor sets operated by Williams in 30-minute sessions for 16 students. The technology for the virtual reality anatomy is provided by the company BodyMap, and the controllers and headsets are provided by Meta Quest.
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While most clinical scenarios in virtual reality are more team-based, the use of BodyMap technology lets students focus on different areas of the body such as being able to enlarge nerves while exploring the musculoskeletal system, as well as hone in on the shoulder when studying upper limbs. The technology also helps students to understand how the different systems of the body interact with one another.
I think virtual reality is a good study aid. If you are in the course and looking at specific parts of the body, you can really master those areas. It can be helpful because you have the entire body map and you can move things around. It’s like when you’re dissecting, but you can remove a muscle or visualize the 3D layers of the body more easily without getting into scrubs and going into the lab. It’s low stakes, but it’s also very realistic.
Dina Mohamed-Aly | WVSOM’s Class of 2026, only WVSOM work-study student tasked with giving student feedback on how to add anatomy virtual reality technology into medical education
Mohamed-Aly offered a recommendation about having prosection images, cadaver dissections which are completed by the anatomy department and used as models to learn from and identify features they might not have been able to dissect at their lab station, included in the headsets. The images would allow students to have a close up view without involving physical cadavers.
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Dina has an interesting and unique role that not a lot of students have, and it’s not something I’ve seen in any of the literature about curriculum development. She is someone who has pre existing knowledge of problem areas that she and other members of her cohort have experienced. She’s giving feedback to the program creators as well. Prioritizing student feedback is a powerful component of the technology.
Katie Williams | Ph.D., WVSOM’s director of academic technology and support
These are not the only people at the WVSOM who are involved in the addition of anatomy virtual reality, Kristie Bridges, Ph.D., Courtney Eleazer, Ph.D., Rebecca Scopa Kelso, Ph.D., Irene Smail, Ph.D., and Peter Ward, Ph.D. were also a part of it.
Despite exact details about how the anatomy virtual reality will be included in classes at WVSOM have not been decided, according to Katie Williams the technology will remain.
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