five months' ago, our team was introduced to a Consultant in Upper GI, Bariatric Surgery and Trauma who trains junior and senior residents of the Emergency, General Surgery, and Otorhinolaryngology Department, and to a Consultant in Otolaryngology, both from the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
together, we identified a need for the development of a Virtual Reality (VR) simulation for Surgical Airway Training - specifically the procedure of cricothyrotomy - which was particularly pressing due to the protocols of safe interaction obliged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
today, we received the humbling news that we have been awarded US$30000 to proceed with the project Virtual Reality Surgical Airway Training (VSaT) in COVID-19 Pandemic over the next two years. the grant has been awarded by the Games for Health Innovation Centre, which is a collaboration between the National Healthcare Group, Singapore and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at the Nanyang Technological University.
this is an exciting and very meaningful area of learning for our team. my father charted his career path as a medical practitioner, and i had the privilege of undergoing medical orderly training during my National Service. the grant represents our third VR-related grant since 2018 (and my first in the capacity of Principal Investigator).
we give thanks and praise to God alone.