News & Trends

Is your organization ready for hologram technology? AVIXA asked that question in June and now an innovative use of it is helping train future healthcare professionals at the University of Central Florida. According to UCF Today the tech was created by PORTL Inc., and its use in healthcare education is being branded as Dr. Hologram. It will provide students with a state-of-the-art 3D patient simulation tool for classroom instruction and help refine their clinical skills. 

“With this new technology, we are able to provide a deeper experience, introducing students to a wide variety of patients at different severity levels through hologram technology, both live or pre-recorded, and have a very true-to-life interaction to teach our future healthcare providers humanistic care,” says Bari Hoffman, associate dean of clinical affairs for the College of Health Professions and Sciences, who spearheaded the project.

"The UCF College of Health Professions and Sciences trains graduate students in a variety of healthcare disciplines such as speech-language pathology, physical therapy, athletic training and clinical social work," adds Megan Pabian, writer for UCF Today. "Adding the hologram technology broadens the variety of patients that students can learn from and helps bridge the gap when in-person interactions are not possible or cost-prohibitive."

Research on patient simulations in healthcare education reveals realistic simulations engage students more and lead to better learning outcomes. Benefits of the technology include letting students examine the the patient up-close, even those who are immune compromised.

Along with using the technology to study and identify health concerns, the university will also use their new "holoportation" capabilities to expand care to rural areas that lack adequate healthcare facilities.

For more information on this game-changing technology and how UCF is using it, click here.