"Using mannequins and actors in hospitals is a very common way of training people nowadays, and it works: we can see that that reduces errors, we can see it improves care. But it is not a scalable way of delivering that training, it's very expensive, low throughput, you need lots of space to be able to do it," says Dr Jack Pottle, founder of VR medical simulation training company Oxford Medical Simulation (OMS). The company's software is now used in 200 institutions. SEE: (TechRepublic) By putting on the VR headset, students can see virtual patients, look at their symptoms, and ask questions (and get replies). The scenarios the students play through adapt to the decisions they take, with the patient getting better or worse accordingly. It's not the same as in-person training, but it gives learners a flavour of managing patients on the wards.