Allison Arwady, MD, MPH, director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, visited the College of Nursing’s Dr. Scholl Foundation Empathy Lab in September 2023. It was the first experience with immersive learning for the former Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner.

“RFU is very forward-thinking in making this kind of investment in cutting-edge learning that helps build patient-centered care,” she said.

Dr. Arwady used empathy to powerful effect during the  COVID-19 pandemic.

“In health communication, you have to connect with people, and you have to do that in lots of different ways, because people are making decisions that they believe to be best for them and their families,” she said. “That’s where empathy can really make a difference. You have to respect and recognize — even if they’re coming from a place of vaccine hesitancy — that they truly believe it’s best for their health.”

VR gave Dr. Arwady insight into challenges faced by a transgender older adult. She also experienced simulated glaucoma and retinal detachment.

Inside the Empathy Lab, Dr. Arwady donned VR goggles to experience visual impairments, including the effects of glaucoma, retinal detachment and cataracts.

“These are treatable conditions that I know as a doctor, but VR gives you a deeper understanding of the patient experience and how people may lose vision in ways they may not even recognize,” she said.

Dr. Arwady, who is a board certified internal medicine physician and pediatrician, also engaged with a module on transgender health. She embodied a person who was born biologically male, marries a woman, copes with bias in employment and health care, and struggles to be understood by family members.

“You see, just for a moment, these hard kinds of experiences, including discrimination,” she said. “As healthcare providers, we’ve got to make sure we’re being respectful and having empathy around that. VR learning experiences can help open up conversations for people who may not feel comfortable with sexual or gender differences. The whole point is we need to have some understanding of where folks are coming from when there is difference — and there is difference in everyone.”