New Wide Area Virtual Environment (WAVE) medical education

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Accomplish the first large-scale combat casualty training using multiple-modality hybrid simulation in the Uniformed Services University's one-of-a-kind three-dimensional Wide Area Virtual Environment (WAVE). METHODS: 91 first-year medical students (MS1) completed a WAVE training session as part of their Combat Medical Skills course. In teams of 6 students, they treated two combat casualties with blast wounds (one a SimMan 3G, and another a standardized patient) during15-minute scenarios in the WAVE. The WAVE is a unique medical simulation environment comprising an 8,000-square-foot virtual space composed of two pods surrounded by circumferential 9 × 12-foot movie screens and a high-fidelity directional sound system. Students completed WAVE quality assurance surveys to describe their impressions. RESULTS: 91 MS1s were trained in a 4.5-hour period (including pre- and post-briefs) without technical difficulties during this inaugural training experience. Student survey data indicated a strong desire for more WAVE training in the curriculum (2.9 on a 3-point Leikert scale), and a strong preference for training in the WAVE vs. traditional training methods (4.6 on a 5-point Leikert scale). CONCLUSIONS: The novel WAVE platform can be implemented successfully for combat casualty training and represents a significant technological advancement in simulated military medical training.