NextMed/MMVR21 Conference

November 27, 2013

About the Conference
“Medicine Meets Virtual Reality” was conceived in 1991 to explore the healthcare utilization of rapidly evolving computing and communications technologies. Physicians, educators, scientists, and engineers gathered to assess how patient care and medical education could be enhanced by increasingly powerful and affordable computers and the expanding Internet. Each specialty brought its own skills and experience. By identifying and nurturing collaborative objectives, they understood that revolutionary tools could be created and existing practices transformed.

Two decades later, the curriculum has expanded beyond virtual reality to encompass a broader range of healthcare topics. The rebranded “NextMed” continues to unite experienced researchers with tomorrow’s leaders while they share current breakthroughs and strategize new directions. Their multidisciplinary expertise generates a unique perspective on what’s now and what’s next in medicine.

Who Should Attend
NextMed/MMVR is an international conference that welcomes the participation of:

  • Physicians and other medical professionals who want to learn about computer-enabled advances that make patient care more effective, accurate, and affordable
  • IT engineers and medical device developers who must understand caregivers’ needs in order to direct projects toward the best outcome
  • Medical educators and students involved with the transfer of knowledge to the next  generation of physicians and their coworkers
  • Military medicine specialists addressing the special demands of warfighter care
  • Biomedical futurists, investors, and policy-makers who need to evaluate scenarios for healthcare’s future

Mission Statement
NextMed/MMVR promotes the creation and adoption of IT-enabled tools for patient care and medical education that support better precision, efficiency, and outcomes. The curriculum combines traditional assessment methods with unorthodox problem-solving to stimulate forward-thinking solutions to healthcare problems.

Presentations are chosen to educate participants on:

  • Advances in simulation, modeling, and haptics that are upgrading medical education, skills  training, psychotherapy, and physical rehabilitation
  • Novel imaging, visualization, and data fusion methods that make clinical diagnosis and therapy more precise and personalized
  • Robotics and sensors that extend the caregiver’s reach and provide richer patient data
  • Medical intelligence networks that promote a collaborative healthcare environment and enhance decision-making
  • Broader goals, accomplishments, and challenges in the development and application of emerging healthcare technologies