Using VR to Elicit Empathy in Current and Future Psychiatrists for their Patients of Color

Abstract

Individuals can now learn anti-racism and anti-discriminatory lessons in virtual reality (VR) through Cogburn's work at Columbia University. The purpose of this VR training tool is to elicit greater empathy in current and future psychiatrists toward their patients of color by observing the microaggressions that a young Black man named Malcolm Carter is subjected to by his older White male psychiatrist, Dr. Thompson. This tool is important because it will increase the quality of psychiatric care for patients of color due to the increased awareness of the inherent biases against them. The project team created this tool to explore its effects on the level of empathy that current and future psychiatrists have toward their patients of color. While developing the tool, the team consulted with Microsoft employees who specialize in VR, a professor of psychiatry, a psychiatry resident, and a medical student, to ensure that the scenarios presented are authentic, and that the user experience is accessible to a wide audience, e.g., by including subtitles. Preliminary results reveal that the training tool is successful in eliciting empathy for Malcolm because the participants involved in testing the tool have expressed how much it is needed due to the lack of diversity within psychiatry, the general lack of trust patients of color have toward White doctors, and the negative effect that lack of trust has on the social determinants of health within communities of color. There has also been an interest in replicating this training tool for use with other races, genders, and ethnicities. Medical professionals engage in cultural competence training, but many times the training is ineffective because they often do not hear the unacceptable things they say to their patients. This VR experience has the potential to put medical professionals through the mental and emotional trauma they might inflict.