Objectives: This article provides an extensive literature review of the use of virtual reality (VR) systems in medicine. Focusing on applications of VR to medical training, this paper addresses the advantages and drawbacks of VR-based surgical simulation and discusses agendas for future research. Methods: Motivations for deploying VR-based medical devices and operating settings are discussed. Various case studies that report positive outcomes of employing VR-based surgical simulators and medical training for surgeons are presented. In addition, measures for evaluating the effectiveness of VR in medicaltraining as well as methods for delivering health care, including telerehabilitation and telemedicine, are addressed. Results and Conclusions: Rich evidence from the existing literature shows that VR-based medical training and health servicesare effective and promising apparatuses in medicine. Despite the many benefits of VR in medicine, several limitations are noted as they provide important avenues for further research. key words : Virtual Reality (VR); Medical Training Surgical Simulation Telemedicine; Telerehabilitation; Haptics