Using Virtual Reality to Teach Medical Students Cross-Coverage Skills - 27/04/24

Doi : 10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.02.002

Adam M. Garber, MD ^a,^⁎ , Pete Meliagros, MD ^a, Jayson Diener-Brazelle, BS ^b, Alan Dow, MD, MSHA ^a
^a Departments of Medicine and Health Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond
^b Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Technology Services (VCU SOMTech), Richmond

^⁎Requests for reprints should be addressed to Adam M. Garber, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, 1200 East Broad Street, PO Box 980102, Richmond, VA 23298-0102.Department of Internal MedicineVirginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine1200 East Broad Street, PO Box 980102RichmondVA23298-0102

Abstract

Background

Recognizing and attempting management of patients with urgent or emergent conditions is one of the Association of American Medical Colleges Core Entrustable Professional Activities (#10) and a skill desired of new interns. However, given the acuity of these patient conditions, medical students often struggle to gain experience in these situations. Virtual reality could help fill this void while lowering costs and resources compared with high-fidelity simulation.

Methods

We converted a high-fidelity chest pain simulation case to virtual reality format utilizing short video clips filmed with a 360-degree camera and superimposed menus of options at decision points. This virtual reality simulation was offered to fourth-year medical students during their transition to residency course in the spring of 2023. Students were offered a post-survey on the simulation.

Results

There were 47 fourth-year students that completed the virtual reality simulation; 41 completed the post-survey (response rate 87.2%). Over 90% of the students agreed or strongly agreed with the following statements: the virtual reality simulation was a valuable part of the transition to residency course, the virtual reality case was similar to what they will face as an intern, and they would like to have more virtual reality simulations earlier in the fourth year; 85.4% agreed or strongly agreed that the virtual reality simulation helped prepare them for the first few days of intern year.

Conclusions

We demonstrated that virtual reality is an acceptable, cost-effective, and feasible modality to teach medical students how to recognize and attempt management of urgent clinical situations (Core Entrustable Professional Activity 10).

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Keywords : Educational technology, Simulated patients, Simulation, Technology-enhanced learning, Virtual reality, Core EPAs

Plan

	Funding: This project and manuscript were completed without funding.
	Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose related to this manuscript.
	Authorship: All authors had access to the data and a role in writing this manuscript. Adam M. Garber: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Conceptualization. Pete Meliagros: Writing – review & editing, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation. Jayson Diener-Brazellee: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Software, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation. Alan Dow: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Supervision, Conceptualization.