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

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Simulation Technology
• Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging simulation training method in Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM).
• Limited data exists on VR training for undergraduate medical and nursing students in PEM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and impact of VR training on undergraduate students in pediatric emergency scenarios.
• To gather pilot data on the perceived usefulness, ease-of-use, and competence gained from VR training.

Main Methods:

• 45 medical and nursing students participated in VR sessions, managing two pediatric emergency scenarios each.
• Students completed a Technology Assessment Questionnaire post-training.
• Perceived usefulness, ease-of-use, and competence levels were evaluated using Likert scales and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

Main Results:

• VR training demonstrated high perceived usefulness (median 91.7/100).
• Perceived competence significantly increased post-training (median 2 to 4 on a 5-point scale, p < 0.001).
• Perceived ease-of-use was moderate (median 77.8/100), indicating potential usability challenges.

Conclusions:

• VR training is perceived as useful and effectively enhances perceived competence in pediatric emergency scenarios for undergraduates.
• Ease-of-use requires improvement, challenging the assumption that young students can intuitively navigate VR hardware in healthcare training.
• Further research is needed to optimize VR integration into undergraduate medical and nursing curricula.