Review of Robotics in Healthcare Education Innovations, Challenges, and Future Directions

Abstract

Robotics is increasingly integral to healthcare, significantly transforming patient care, clinical workflows, and medical education. This review critically evaluates the multifarious applications and implications of robotics within healthcare education, including surgical, rehabilitation, social interaction, and logistics domains. Surgical robotics, such as the Da Vinci system, has notably improved skill acquisition through immersive virtual reality simulations, enhancing technical precision and reducing procedural errors. Rehabilitation robotics demonstrates substantial educational benefits in facilitating motor recovery through advanced exoskeletons and sensorimotor devices, emphasizing personalized therapeutic approaches. Social robots, leveraging sophisticated AI interactions, effectively cultivate empathy, communication skills, and clinical reasoning among healthcare students. Furthermore, automation and logistics robotics streamline clinical workflows, reduce infection risks, and allow healthcare workers to prioritize patient-centric care. However, significant barriers to widespread adoption persist, including prohibitive initial investments, ongoing operational costs, limited technological literacy among clinicians, and ethical concerns surrounding data privacy, accountability, and potential deskilling of healthcare professionals. Addressing these challenges requires integrated curricula emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative funding strategies, robust regulatory frameworks, user-centered design, and sustained longitudinal research. Future developments in autonomous micro/nanorobots, immersive virtual environments, and human-robot interaction necessitate curricula that cultivate adaptive clinical judgment, empathetic patient care, and nuanced human-robot teaming skills. Proactive educational adaptation is essential for preparing technologically competent, compassionate healthcare providers, thereby ensuring patient safety and enhancing healthcare quality in an increasingly robotic future.

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