New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension Service is using virtual reality to train educators and health professionals on nutrition and wellness.

Tiffany Acosta, New Mexico State University

LAS CRUCES - In August, a team from the New Mexico State University College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences launched a new immersive virtual reality program to enhance clinical nutrition training for students in food, nutrition and dietetics programs. “Nutrition Counselor VR: Training Program for Health Practitioners” focuses on emotional communication, counseling and clinical procedures.

While wearing a virtual reality headset, users can interact with four different patients and talk through different approaches for each person’s care. The program offers different pathways, so that each time a student uses it and makes different choices, the patient may respond differently, and the session could end in a different way.

The media production team from NMSU’s Innovative Media Research and Extension and Learning Games Lab, part of the Cooperative Extension Service in the College of ACES, created the VR program to expand access to high-quality, standardized supervised practice, especially for students from rural or underserved backgrounds and to improve educational outcomes by creating emotionally rich, engaging simulations that reflect the real challenges practitioners face when supporting patients through complex health situations.

“These virtual reality case studies are filling a critical gap in immersive simulation training for future registered dietitians,” said Gaby Phillips, College of ACES Dietetic Internship Program director in the Family and Consumer Sciences Department. “This project helps prepare dietetic students to connect meaningfully with VR patients - building clinical knowledge, developing bedside manners skills such as empathy, and increasing confidence in their clinical decision-making.”

The app is available on Meta’s App Lab and for Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3.

This project was supported the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Higher Education Challenge Grant Program and in collaboration with the NMSU Dietetic Internship Program, Rutgers University, Institute of Continuing Education for Nutrition Professionals and New Jersey Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“Our initial research has users discussing how ‘real’ the experience feels. Though the characters are animated, the students using the program are fully immersed in the emotions of working with patients, which gives them the chance to practice what they’ve learned in class. We’re proud of the work, proud of the team and excited to see how this application helps shape the future of dietitian training and nutrition counseling education,” Innovative Media Research and Extension Department Head Barbara Chamberlin said. “The team also prioritized accessibility, incorporating features such as hand tracking, subtitles and alternative controls to make the experience more inclusive and user-friendly for a broad range of learners.”

To learn more, visit nutritioncounselorvr.com.

Tiffany Acosta writes for New Mexico State University Marketing and Communications and can be reached at 575-646-3929, or by email at tfrank@nmsu.edu.