Making clinical simulation accessible and convenient for every student
UTMB's Health Education Center piloted Virti's XR platform to give students from five healthcare schools access to realistic simulation — on their schedule, in their location.
Students trained across 5 healthcare schools
Schools across the university system using the platform
Core XR simulations: patient safety room and AI medical interview
Students gain simulated clinical experience they would not receive otherwise — and both students and faculty have requested simulations earlier in the semester.— UTMB Health Education Center
World-class facilities — but not enough simulation time to go around
UTMB's Health Education Center is one of the most advanced medical education facilities in the US — 161,000 square feet, 77 simulated patient beds, and five healthcare schools to serve. But even with those resources, simulation time was limited and access depended on being physically present at the centre.
The HEC needed a way to extend its simulation offering beyond its walls — giving students from nursing, medicine, respiratory care and other programmes access to realistic clinical scenarios on their own schedule.
Simulation access was location-dependent
Students could only access simulation training at the HEC — requiring them to be physically on campus, limiting flexibility and creating scheduling pressure for a growing number of learners across five schools.
Simulation time per student was finite
With 77 simulated patient beds serving hundreds of students, available simulation time per learner was constrained. Extending the curriculum required a solution that could scale beyond the physical infrastructure.
Clinical experience was shrinking
Students were getting less time in real clinical environments before graduation. The HEC needed tools that could bridge the gap — giving students more practice without requiring hospital access.
AI patient interactions weren't yet possible at scale
Traditional mannequin-based simulation couldn't replicate realistic patient communication. The HEC wanted to give students practice at clinical conversation — including physical examination and history-taking — with responses that adapted to what they said.
XR simulation that extends the HEC beyond its walls
Virti's extended reality platform gave the UTMB Health Education Center a way to offer simulation-quality clinical training on any device — VR headset, mobile, or desktop — making practice accessible to students wherever they were, not just at the centre.
The Patient Safety Room simulation put students inside a real clinical environment to identify hazards — with the whole class debriefing together to discuss what they found.
An AI avatar capable of conducting full medical interviews — speaking 20 languages, representing diverse backgrounds, and responding realistically to student questions and physical exam choices.
Students could access simulations via VR headset at the HEC, or on their own mobile or desktop — extending clinical practice beyond scheduled simulation sessions.
A single platform served nursing, medicine, respiratory care and other programmes — each with simulations tailored to their curriculum and clinical objectives.
Two landmark simulations — and a platform built to grow
The HEC launched its Virti XR pilot with two flagship simulations that quickly became a core part of the clinical curriculum. Both were designed to complement — not replace — in-person simulation, extending access and practice opportunity for every student across all five schools.
The Patient Safety Room
Students put on a VR headset and entered a simulated clinical environment to identify patient safety hazards — applying classroom learning in a realistic setting, then debriefing collectively with their professor to discuss what they found.
Medical interview with "Mike White"
An AI-powered virtual patient — capable of speaking 20 languages and representing any ethnicity or background — guided students through a full clinical encounter: history-taking, vital signs, physical examination, and real-time adaptive responses.
Multi-school rollout across the HEC
The pilot expanded from a single school to all five healthcare programmes at UTMB — with both simulations integrated into the curriculum earlier in the semester at students' and faculty's request.
Try a clinical simulation like UTMB students use
Step into a medical interview with an AI virtual patient — the same format UTMB's health students use to practise clinical encounters. No account needed.
1,000+ students trained. Simulations requested earlier every semester.
The UTMB Virti pilot delivered strong results — both in scale and student satisfaction. Over 1,000 students across five healthcare schools completed XR simulations, and both students and faculty requested the experiences be integrated earlier in the curriculum.
Students trained across 5 healthcare schools via the XR pilot
Healthcare schools integrated into the XR simulation programme
Faculty and students requested simulations moved earlier in the semester
What changed for students
- Clinical practice available on their own schedule
- Realistic AI patient interactions before real clinical rotations
- Immediate experience with patient communication and examination
- Less anxiety entering real clinical environments for the first time
What changed for the HEC
- Simulation access extended beyond physical centre hours
- All five schools served from a single platform
- Earlier curriculum integration at faculty and student request
- A scalable XR model ready to expand as cohorts grow
A growing XR curriculum — across every school
With the pilot delivering strong results across five schools, UTMB's Health Education Center is expanding its Virti XR offering — adding new scenarios, integrating simulations earlier in each programme, and exploring how to use AI patient data to inform curriculum design.
What's next
The HEC continues to develop its XR simulation library with Virti — with simulations now requested as a standard part of the curriculum rather than an optional add-on.
Students gain simulated clinical experience they would not receive otherwise — and they want it earlier every semester.