SIMPEDVR: using VR in teaching pediatric emergencies to undergraduate students-a pilot study

The objective of this work was to provide pilot data on feasibility of using virtual reality (VR) to train undergraduate students in pediatric emergency scenarios. We staged VR sessions for a total of 45 medical and nursing students; in every session, each student managed two pediatric emergency virtual scenarios. At the end of the sessions, students completed a Technology Assessment Questionnaire to evaluate the perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use of their VR training experience and rated their perceived level of competence in managing the two clinical scenarios. The median perceived usefulness was 91.7/100 (interquartile range (IQR) 80.6-100), while the median perceived ease-of-use was 77.8/100 (IQR 63.9-88.9). The perceived level of competence increased from 2 (IQR 1-3) to 4 (IQR 3-4) on a 5-point Likert scale, for both scenarios (p < 0.001, Wilcoxon test for paired samples).       Conclusions: The staged VR sessions had a good perceived usefulness and resulted in an increase in the perceived level of competence. The results on the ease-of-use, however, show that an assumption that millennials and younger students can navigate with confidence VR hardware in a healthcare training setting should not be made; further work is required to ease the integration of VR into curricula. What is Known: • Virtual reality (VR) is a rising simulation training methodology in Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM), however little experience is reported about its use for undergraduate students What is New: • VR PEM trainiing was found useful by undergraduate students and its use increased their perceived level of competence, although ease-of-use received lower ratings. • Despite the young age, an assumption that millennials and younger students can navigate with confidence VR hardware in a healthcare training setting should not be made.