Virtual reality simulations help teach many skills. Discuss several of these skills. What will be ...

A device using a mannequin and computer imaging allows medical students to practice inserting a bronchoscope into a child's trachea. The epidural simulator allows the student to perform the procedure while feeling the resistance of the tissue but without endangering a live patient. Students can learn to administer an IV using a simulation program instead of practicing on a rubber arm.
In dentistry, virtual reality (VR) simulations make use of mannequins to allow students to practice filling cavities while watching both the mannequin and a monitor. The student feels the tooth via the instruments, learning to distinguish between a healthy and a diseased tooth. The newest simulations use VR techniques, requiring the power of supercomputers.
Simulations using VR can make medical education safer and more effective. They are particularly useful in teaching procedures, such as colonoscopies, that are guided by haptic clues (sense of feel) and where a mistake can seriously harm a patient.
Now, before a medical resident operates on a live patient, surgery can be simulated. Students can manipulate surgical instruments while watching a computer monitor. Motors in the instruments provide resistance so that the student learns how much pressure is required for a particular task. VR simulations are being used to train surgeons to perform minimally invasive operations.