Virtual reality laboratories of the University of Minnesota Health Library allow students in mortuary sciences to explore end -of -life situations.
The professor of mortuary sciences Janet McGee has needed simulation in her class since the fall of 2023 as part of their training in general skills.
“We are working to integrate more technology into our program, and it seemed to be a great way to do so,” said McGee.
The VR laboratory opened its doors at the university in 2021. Currently, 20 classes use technology due to the unique immersive experience, said Charlie Heinz, the director of the laboratory.
“You can get this level of immersion with any other medium, You can watch a film, but with virtual reality, it envelops everything around you in all directions, so if you have a much more important sense, “said Hertz. “So there is nothing like it for this.”
Students in mortuary sciences are required to end the Albert laboratory, which allows them to live the life of a 74 -year -old man with hearing loss and a macular degeneration, an eye condition that causes vision loss at the center of the vision.
The laboratory takes students through a day with Albert, to a medical appointment where he cannot understand the documents he signs, and for a birthday party where he areas in and out of conscience because of ‘A lack of concentration.
“He helps students see the complete end -of -life experience,” said McGee. “In this sense, this allows us to be more empathetic and to present morticians when we have a better understanding of what our families of customers may have known to take funeral arrangements. It also helps us to anticipate needs more effectively. »»
The Department of Mortuaires uses many different technologies in class to develop skills such as embalming, but the use of virtual reality has a different objective.
“The goal is that students feel embodied learning, to see what it could be from the point of view of the customer family,” said McGee. “This is another way of helping students develop empathetic listening skills.”
General skills, including communication, are the key to the student‘S future success, said McGee.
Students like the fourth year Sara Harbor say that it is a precious competence.
“We are also trained in the humanist side of things, the process of sorrow and the arrangements for a few hours with families whose loved one has just died, sailing on these emotions and these family dynamics”, ” Said Harbor. “We have the medical side, but we also have the personal side, therefore.”
Another simulator is available in the laboratory that simulates the dying process. The Clay laboratory is not yet used in class, but Minnesota Daily had the opportunity to try it. The simulation is disorienting, starting with a visualization of the internal organs which fight to work. The subject, Clay, is dying of respiratory failure at home.
Experience shows that his wife and children find it difficult to say goodbye, but history is difficult to understand when Clay enters and comes out of conscience. His vision is also weakening as time progresses, with less and less the experience visually accessible to the user.
When the clay passes, the simulator continues, only in a different perspective, allowing the user to look at the clay leave his house by a view of the bird’s eyes.
The VR laboratory has available appointments from Monday to Thursday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is also available by appointment.