Table 1.

VR patient experiences and student evaluation themes

	Clay Lab	Beatriz Lab	Dima Lab
Medical theme	Terminal cancer	Alzheimer’s disease	Parkinson’s disease
Patient experience	Observe a professional delivering a serious diagnosis, hospice care team, end-of-life support for the patient and family, and eventual death. Inclusion of a skills lab to practice delivering serious news	Latina woman’s transition from mild to severe forms of the disease, experience hallucinations, memory loss, confusion, and family conflicts regarding care	Lebanese American of Muslim faith experiences hallucinations, falls, sound sensitivity, as well as family communication. Cultural needs are explored throughout the health care field
Pilot group & data collection	154 first year medical students as part of the general mechanisms of disease course (pre/post surveys)	22 medical and physician assistant students as part of the geriatric interest group (pre/post surveys)	6 contemporary human anatomy graduate students as part of the neuroanatomy course (focus group)
Overall experience	84.2% of students felt like they had a better understanding of what patients with terminal cancer experience after completing the lab. 93% of students thought the experience was valuable and 84% wanted to see it incorporated formally into the curriculum	86% of students felt like they had a better understanding of what patients with Alzheimer’s disease experience after completing the lab. 100% of students thought the experience was valuable and wanted to see it incorporated into the curriculum	100% of students felt like they had a better understanding of what patients with Parkinson disease experience after completing the lab. 100% of students thought the experience was valuable and wanted to see it incorporated into the curriculum
Sample quote	“I felt hurt. I felt disappointed and helpless. Looking into the doctor’s eyes as she delivered the news was a powerful experience. I could feel how the energy of the room changed and the emotions of everyone who was there. I saw the reactions of my wife and my daughter.”	“I was mad, frustrated and afraid at my inability to do things I had been doing my whole life. How could my family seem so angry with me, as if it were my fault!”	“I felt frustrated that I could not do the things I used to be able to do effortlessly, such – i.e. writing, walking to the garden, hanging out in the living room with the (grand)kids.”