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Lee et al. Plast Aesthet Res 2022;9:46 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2022.11
Aesthetic Research

Technical Note Open Access

The virtual peripheral nerve academy: education for
the identification and treatment of peripheral nerve

disorders

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Erica B. Lee , Allison Podsednik , Kimberly Khoo , Amal Cheema , Raysa Cabrejo , Chen Shen , Joseph
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Rosen , A. Lee Dellon 1
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Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MD 89011, USA.
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Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA.
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Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
Correspondence to: Dr. Erica B. Lee, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, MD
89011, USA. E-mail: elee113@jhmi.edu
How to cite this article: Lee EB, Podsednik A, Khoo K, Cheema A, Cabrejo R, Shen C, Rosen J, Dellon AL. The virtual peripheral
nerve academy: education for the identification and treatment of peripheral nerve disorders. Plast Aesthet Res 2022;9:46.
https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2022.11
Received: 15 Feb 2022 First Decision: 1 May 2022 Revised: 10 Jun 2022 Accepted: 11 Jul 2022 Published: 22 Jul 2022
Academic Editor: Matthew Iorio Copy Editor: Peng-Juan Wen Production Editor: Peng-Juan Wen

Abstract
Millions of people around the globe suffer peripheral nerve injuries caused by trauma and medical disorders.
However, medical school curricula are profoundly deficient in peripheral nerve education. This lack of knowledge
within the healthcare profession may cause inadequate patient care. We developed the Virtual Peripheral Nerve
Academy (VPNA) as a reusable virtual learning environment to provide medical students with detailed education
on the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Students are introduced to the PNS through virtual 3D rendering of the
human body, wherein they visualize individual nerves through dissection and observe normal motor and sensory
function associated with each nerve. PNS structures that are absent from traditional texts are included in this
visualization, ranging from the innervation of joints to the normal anatomic variation required for differential
diagnosis of pain after an injury. Detailed modules on peripheral nerve disorders allow students to observe
pathophysiological mechanisms, associated symptomatology, and appropriate treatments. Students are briefed on
a patient clinical case, then interact with a patient avatar to learn the appropriate diagnostics, including physical
exam maneuvers and electrodiagnostic testing. Interactive modules on peripheral nerve surgeries detail surgical
techniques. The VPNA data and analytics dashboards allow medical students and course instructors to assess skill
improvement and identify specific learning needs. The built-in learner management system and availability on both

© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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