Exploration of Immersive Virtual Reality in Teaching Veterinary Orthopedics

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Medicine
• Educational Technology

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated innovative remote teaching methods in veterinary education.
• Traditional veterinary training faces limitations in remote learning environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of immersive virtual reality (iVR) as a supplementary teaching tool in veterinary orthopedics.
• To assess student perceptions and identify benefits and challenges of using iVR in veterinary education.

Main Methods:

• Utilized iVR for veterinary students during an orthopedics clinical rotation.
• Collected student feedback via voluntary electronic surveys before and after the rotation.

Main Results:

• Students reported enhanced engagement, information retention, radiographic interpretation, and clinical reasoning.
• Identified obstacles included financial/time investment, technical issues, and motion sickness.

Conclusions:

• iVR shows potential to supplement hands-on learning, motivate students, and address information gaps in veterinary education.
• The versatility of iVR suggests broad applicability across various veterinary clinical and didactic settings.