Discussion Paper: Accelerating surgical cognition with virtual reality – There is more to surgery than cutting

Abstract

As the world’s population grows, so too does the number of surgeries and need for capable surgeons. Fortunately, technology is progressing fast enough to solve many problems surfacing from increasing healthcare demands, but how can low cost technology be further utilised to increase both quality of surgical skills and quantity of future surgeons? This article provides a brief discussion of the use of virtual reality technology combined with an applied cognitive approach called human factors. It asserts how this synergy may be the key to improved surgical performance via cognitive acceleration and can appeal to a new generation of trainees.