JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Patient handover is a daily task for doctors and nurses alike and structured handovers have been proven to impact patient outcome positively. In order to teach the handover procedure different communication tools have been applied like the ISBAR (introduction, situation, background, assessment, recommendation) method.

Objective:

This study aimed to assess the benefits of a supplementary training in virtual reality for medical students.

Methods:

Handover training using the ISBAR method and patient actors is part of the curriculum in surgery of the eighth semester of human medicine studies in Mainz. Knowledge is tested via an OSCE (objective structured clinical examination) using patient actors. We developed an immersive virtual reality application using 360° video surroundings with structured patient cases. This application was offered as an optional supplementary training in groups of three with a peer tutor. Parameters evaluated included participants’ characteristics, usability, and visually induced motion sickness. Furthermore, a survey of the whole semester was conducted about their experience using virtual reality and the personal enjoyment of studying. Last, the scores of the OSCE were collected and compared between groups.

Results:

The study was conducted over two semesters and 92 of 385 (23.9%) volunteering students were recruited. Median age was 25 years and the majority was female (n= 61, 68.5%). There were little to no problems considering visually induced motion sickness and eye strain. Students felt significantly more confident in patient handover after the additional training (7 point Likert scale, mean (pre training) = 3.69, mean (post training) = 3.17, P < .01) and reported to have significantly more fun studying than their peers who did not participate in the additional training (mean(participants) = 2.8, mean(non-participant) = 3.69, P < .01). The points achieved in the OSCE did not differ between groups (median grade = 17 in both groups, P = .619).

Conclusions:

This study shows that applications in virtual reality if implemented in a structured curriculum can be a helpful and safe addition in the teaching of communication skills. While overall points achieved in the OSCE did not differ, it has been shown, that knowledge retention is increased in enjoyable learning settings. Virtual reality applications should be considered as a time flexible, safe and fun educational tool suitable for numerous different settings.