Operating Room Virtual Reality Immersion Improves Self-Efficacy Amongst Preclinical Physician Assistant Students

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Virtual Reality Simulation
• Healthcare Professional Training

Background:

• Physician assistant (PA) students require effective training for operating room (OR) environments.
• Traditional teaching methods may not fully replicate the complexities of surgical settings.
• Assessing novel training modalities like virtual reality (VR) is crucial for enhancing student confidence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of immersive VR operating room simulation on the self-efficacy of preclinical PA students.
• To compare the effectiveness of VR simulation versus traditional lectures in improving student self-efficacy.

Main Methods:

• A randomized double-blinded controlled experiment was conducted with 52 preclinical PA students.
• Participants were assigned to either VR simulation or traditional lecture groups.
• Self-efficacy was measured using the General Self-Efficacy Scale before and after the intervention.

Main Results:

• VR simulation exposure significantly improved PA student self-efficacy (p < 0.05).
• VR training demonstrated superior efficacy compared to traditional lecture methods (p < 0.05).
• No significant change in self-efficacy was observed with the traditional model alone (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Immersive VR simulation effectively enhances self-efficacy among preclinical PA students in operating room settings.
• VR technology offers a valuable tool for augmenting surgical training and building student confidence.