Global Scalpels | Episode 38: Dr. Fabio Botelho

4 hours? 7 hours? 10 hours? Look around you. Chances are you have a cell phone, tablet, or computer within reach (you are reading this after all). The number of hours an individual spends on their electronic devices each day continues to rise every year. With mobile devices reaching almost every corner of the earth, access to technology has never been easier. So how can we use this technology to do good? And how can we harness it specifically for surgery?

The term “virtual reality” is often used but it’s not something I know a lot about. Simulating an experience in which the user can interact with a created world around them is the very heart of virtual reality. This is what Dr Fabio Botelho is trying to tackle – using virtual reality to teach paediatric trauma care.

Using virtual scenarios where a clinician can talk with nurses, order tests, and work with patients, this simulated world enables just about anyone to gain knowledge and training in a real but standardized and measurable way. Surprisingly, it is actually cheaper than many other forms of training and the power to be able to disseminate the course is diverse and scalable.

Join us as we explore a range of topics including virtual reality, pediatric trauma training, and burnout in this exciting new episode!

Fabio Botelho: Technologist, Children’s Surgeon, and Founder of Petit-VR

Brazil

“Virtual Reality, Children’s Trauma Training, and Reducing Burnout”

Dr. Fabio Botelho is a trauma and pediatric surgeon from Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is the Jean-Martin Laberge Global Pediatric Surgery Fellow at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, besides a Ph.D. candidate at McGill University. His current projects aim to improve the quality of care in pediatric trauma, mainly in low-and-middle-income countries, after exploring the issues of importing medical knowledge and interventions without proper adaptation. Therefore, he partners with medical societies to develop a global pediatric trauma course, including in virtual reality. He is also an American College of Surgeons trauma instructor, a full member of the Brazilian College of Surgeons, Brazilian Pediatric Surgical Association, and collaborator of the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change of the Harvard Medical School. As pediatric trauma is a leading cause of child mortality and morbidity in several countries, Dr. Botelho believes this is his way to contribute to a better world.