NEWS

The Faculty of Medicine at Istanbul Nişantaşı University continues to advance its innovative approaches in medical education. In this context, the first Virtual Reality (VR) class of the 2025–2026 Academic Year was successfully conducted for 4th-year students (the introduction to clinical sciences period).

The course was held under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Emrah İpek and Asst. Prof. Dr. Sercan Şeker. Students had the opportunity to experience advanced medical practices in a three-dimensional VR environment, enabling them to combine clinical skills with modern educational technologies. In this innovative session, students interactively explored modules ranging from the cardiovascular system to emergency intervention simulations, from anatomy revision to step-by-step execution of interventional procedures.

A New Era in Medical Education: VR Medical Laboratory and VR Club Planning

During the evaluation meeting held after the class, plans were initiated to establish a VR Medical Education Laboratory and to form a student-centered VR Club within the Faculty of Medicine. The goals of these two initiatives include:

• Providing students with regular access to VR-based clinical simulations,
• Reinforcing procedural skills in a safe and controlled environment,
• Developing technology-based medical projects through academic–student collaboration,
• Increasing the national and international visibility of the faculty through its innovative education model.

The VR laboratory is planned to be integrated with the advanced simulation infrastructure located at the Maslak 1453 Campus. Additionaly, the proposed VR Club is expected to organize workshops, demo days, simulation competitions, and project development activities throughout the year.

Positive Feedback from Students

Fourth-year students who experienced the course emphasized that working with real-case–based scenarios strengthened their clinical reasoning processes and accelerated learning, particularly in cardiology, emergency medicine, surgery, and anatomy.