JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Virtual reality applications in higher education show great potential to develop novel and innovative learning experiences. However, new ways of working are required to make use of new technologies and implementation is slow. Medical educations have experienced a major growth in using virtual reality recently, and it is therefore of great interest to explore how virtual reality is being implemented in higher health professional and continuing education.

Objective:

The aim of this scoping review is to identify studies reporting on implementation of virtual reality in higher health professional education, to identify barriers and facilitators for implementation, and highlight research gaps in this area.

Methods:

The literature search will include searches in the following databases: CINAHL, Academic Search Elite and Education Source, as well as Google Scholar. In addition, unpublished literature will be hand-searched. After initial screening, all authors will independently extract data from the included full-text documents. We intend to include studies published between 2017-2022. The review will focus on health professional higher education. Studies concerned with students and faculty at the higher health professional education level will be included, including continuing education for health care professionals.

Results:

Results will be presented in tabular form accompanied by a narrative summary. The review will include studies with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods designs; and will include any systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as well as unpublished literature such as white and grey papers.

Conclusions:

The conclusion will focus on recommendations for implementation of VR initiatives in health professional education, as well as recommendations for future research.