Tracheostomy and Laryngectomy Care: Virtual Reality Training for Health Professionals

"Tracheostomy and Laryngectomy Care: Virtual Reality Training for Health Professionals," is an initiative that draws on the center's long history in simulation-based education and assessment since its opening in 2005, this project builds on the LAC's established infrastructure, over 12,000 square feet of simulation space and an annual reach to more than 10,000 learners, bringing immersive extended reality tools to critical airway care training. The LAC has been an early adopter and accredited leader in simulation for research, teaching and assessment, and its experience integrating onsite and virtual modalities positions it to explore virtual reality (VR) approaches specifically targeted to the complex skills required for tracheostomy and laryngectomy management.

Under Smith's direction, the LAC collaborates closely with faculty across health professions to design, develop and evaluate simulation activities that align with curricular competencies. The VR training project leverages the center's certified simulation expertise and diverse simulation modalities, human patient simulators, task trainers, standardized patients, and extended reality, to create realistic, repeatable learning experiences for interprofessional teams. The LAC's history of interprofessional education, serving colleges of osteopathic medicine, human medicine, nursing and veterinary medicine, supports a training model where medical, nursing and allied health learners practice with, from and about each other, reflecting the team-based reality of tracheostomy and laryngectomy care.

The integration of VR in airway care training aligns with the LAC's broader adoption of telesimulation and virtual modalities developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telesimulation experience demonstrated the center's ability to deliver high-quality simulation to geographically dispersed learners, and VR combined with tele- and virtual-simulation offers potential for scalable, competency-based assessment and self-directed practice. The LAC's work with virtual patients and emerging artificial intelligence indicates an institutional readiness to incorporate interactive, feedback-rich VR scenarios that can simulate airway emergencies, routine care procedures, and communication with patients who have altered speech or breathing mechanics after tracheostomy or laryngectomy.

Partnerships across MSU enhance the technical and translational potential of the project. The LAC's collaborations with the GEL (Games for Entertainment and Learning) Lab and with engineering and packaging colleagues reflect longstanding interdisciplinary efforts to develop educational software and realistic care contexts. This project can draw on those partnerships to refine VR design, usability and fidelity while ensuring scenarios reflect clinical realities without compromising patient privacy. The LAC's standardized patient program and experience with competency-based assessment further enable the creation of rigorous evaluation frameworks for VR training effectiveness.