SimX Team Member Feature: Michael Barrie, MD

simxvr_admin
15 Apr 2021

At SimX, our team is a core part of what we do and why we do it. The SimX team is made up of highly experienced medical and software professionals who are passionate about their various fields of interest.

We wish to highlight Dr. Michael Barrie who is a member of SimX’s medical oversight board working closely with our military clients to build curriculum; a vital role that keeps our business grounded in the needs and interests of educators.

Dr. Barrie is an emergency medicine physician at a community hospital in Richmond Virginia. Prior to this, he was an assistant professor at Ohio State University where he completed his residency in 2015 and medical school training in 2012.

After his residency, Michael was looking for an academic niche in emergency medicine and “[he] found that exploring technology implementations in medical education was a good fit for [him].” He had a position with the medical school “to implement an audience response program into a student course, and worked to bring other technology solutions to the medical student and residency courses.”

Because of his research, he was asked to speak at an emergency medicine conference which led him to connect with early VR adopters and the SimX team. He wanted to get involved. Dr. Barrie said, “it was clear they, [SimX], were doing VR Medical Education Sim better than anyone else out there. Plus, they were founded by emergency physicians! Basically I was jealous and thought they had dream jobs.”

Through this connection, Michael was invited to the board of medical oversight with SimX and has been an invaluable member of the team.

Our team members come from many different backgrounds; what unites us is our desire to make a difference and our passion for education, technology, and decreasing medical waste. When Dr. Barrie was asked about working with this team, he said, “It has been rewarding to see the work put into designing and planning simulation cases get translated into virtual reality simulation. I’ve been impressed with how well the team works together, and also how quickly the team has adapted to challenges and growing their capabilities.”

Innovation demands adaptability as the tech world moves quickly and changes frequently. The SimX team spends time and energy making sure our cases remain innovative, educational, and useful for medical professionals.

We asked Dr. Barrie what he felt was the future of innovative VR and simulation solutions. His answer is a direct reflection of SimX’s priorities for education, exploration, and being leaders in the future of VR:

“Using virtual reality, we can bring all the educators and students from anywhere together in one virtual space for learning. I also think that hands-on, experiential learning is one of the best ways to teach. As the technology evolves to allow better haptics, players will be able to interact more naturally with the virtual world and practice more fine motor activities in VR. I also think that as the hardware improves, we will be able to build more immersive and realistic environments to make it that much easier to suspend disbelief and feel like you’re in a real scenario.”

The future of SimX (and of VR) exists because of the wonderful people who collaborate and work everyday to make a difference in education and medical fields. Are you interested in learning more?

Start exploring the wonderful world of medical VR simulation for free today.

Or

Interested in joining our team? Explore SimX’s career opportunities. 

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