## 4 Discussion  
The International Atomic Energy Authority report IAEA-TCS-39 noted that most Member States have a severe shortage of radiopharmacists, and other countries have no trained pharmacists with radiopharmacy competence. Primary issues included inadequate education and training, particularly clinical training that was poorly planned and managed, and lack of professional recognition [56]. An IAEA technical meeting in 2021 assessed the strengths, weaknesses, and possible radiation protection education and training alternatives, recognizing the need for improved global radiation protection and health safety education [57]. Similarly, a recent EU study on health professionals, radiation safety education, and training found a major resource deficit [58]. In addition, [PERSON] et al. further claimed that most training programs are inadequate, declining, or nonexistent. Therefore, to meet society's needs, appropriate resources must be allocated to recruit and retain workers [59; 60], and training programs must be developed that encourage careers in radiation profession fields [61]. Moreover, according to the latest United Nations estimates in 2019, there are 83 million new births annually, and it predicts that the global population will increase to 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion by 2050, and by 2100, 11.2 billion by [62]. Healthcare services, especially nuclear medicine departments, will be strained. Equipment and skilled staff will become scarce as more patients need diagnostic and therapeutic services, resulting in equipment and competent staff constraints, requiring significant infrastructure investment and hiring and training staff to handle the extra load. Additionally, workforce development, focused training, and incentives are crucial to attracting and retaining nuclear medicine professionals. Resources are required to promote the nuclear medicine profession and maintain trained staff. Consequently, VR has a role in training; a meta-analysis and systematic review of VR in medical education for healthcare professionals by [PERSON] et al. found significant improvements in competence and satisfaction [63]. Similarly, this research demonstrated that VR could improve student learning. The VR learning effectiveness was demonstrated by 87% of the VR group scoring > 80% in the 3-month test (Figure 7G), which was 6.69-fold higher than that of the control group. We gave radiological technology students the same exam one month and three months after training to determine the durability of learning from the video tutorials and immersive digital VR simulation. Research shows that periodic testing can accurately evaluate long-term retention and teaching strategies. [PERSON] and [PERSON] found that repeated testing improves and assesses knowledge retention. They found that retrieval practice via testing improves long-term memory retention more than passive reviews [16]. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. found that spacing learning and testing sessions, known as the \"spacing effect,\" improve learning retention [64]. Administering the exam one month and three months later lets us see the spacing effect in action and whether the immersive VR simulation helps recall complex procedural information better than video tutorials. Assessing knowledge retention one month and three months after training is a technique that follows educational research and seeks to determine the long-term efficacy of video tutorials against immersive VR simulations in radiological technology instruction. The results confirm our hypothesis that VR can improve long-term memory of complicated procedural knowledge. Furthermore, VR learning has been shown to significantly impact confidence levels amongst medical students concerning their understanding of radiation safety matters, with student feedback supporting integrating VR simulation-based learning into the radiography and medical curriculum alongside lectures [65]. [PERSON] et al. found that immersive VR influences learning via affective and cognitive processes.