How to Use Technology to Build Healthcare Soft Skills

I knew how to intubate a patient. What I didn’t know was how to hold space for their mother standing six feet away, silently breaking. No one taught me that part, it was learned on the job. Not because they didn’t care, but because the system never prioritized it. Clinical training taught me the procedure. But not the presence. And yet, in healthcare, how you show up in the room matters just as much as what you do in it. We’re at a turning point in simulation. VR has already proven it can teach technical skills. The next leap? It has to teach empathy. Emotional intelligence. Cultural nuance. How to talk to a scared patient. How to stay grounded when grief walks in. That’s not fluff. That’s clinical readiness. We’ve built systems that teach students what to do. Now it’s time we teach them how to be. What’s your take on this? VRpatients #EmpathyInHealthcare #SimulationEducation #NurseTraining #MedicalEducation #VRTraining

In the rush to integrate AI, it's easy to focus on what it can automate. But in healthcare, AI's most profound impact might be its ability to support human connection, not replace it. Imagine AI as a tool that: • Creates smoother transitions between care teams, so patients feel consistently supported • Preserves time for face-to-face interactions, even in tech-driven workflows • Amplifies trust-building moments that truly impact patient outcomes Five ways AI can strengthen human connection: 1. Protect Conversation Time • Automate documentation in the background • Handle routine coordination invisibly • Free mental space for active listening • Enable eye contact instead of screen focus 2. Support Team Relationships • Share insights across care teams naturally • Enable smoother handoffs • Facilitate timely collaboration • Build trust through better information flow 3. Create Space for Empathy • Handle routine tasks quietly • Allow for longer patient interactions • Support emotional awareness • Enable presence over process 4. Enable Better Transitions • Keep everyone informed appropriately • Reduce communication gaps • Support continuous care relationships • Maintain connection through changes 5. Amplify Human Insight • Surface patterns that need human attention • Support clinical judgment, don't replace it • Enable deeper patient understanding • Strengthen team collaboration By approaching AI with a relationship-centered lens, we can design technology that strengthens the interactions and collaborations that make healthcare effective—and deeply human.