Exploring the Effect on Pharmacy Students' Empathy Following a Simulation Using 360-Degree Video.

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Medical Simulation
• Empathy Development

Background:

• Empathy is crucial for effective patient care in pharmacy.
• Innovative simulation methods are needed to enhance empathy in healthcare students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of a virtual reality (VR) 360-degree video simulation on pharmacy students' empathy.
• To assess changes in empathy using quantitative and qualitative measures.

Main Methods:

• First-year pharmacy students experienced a 4-minute VR 360-degree video simulation from a patient's perspective.
• Empathy was measured using the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) pre- and post-simulation.
• Students also completed a post-simulation reflection question.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant difference was found in TEQ scores before and after the simulation.
• Qualitative analysis of 44 students' reflections identified themes: silent struggle, patient-centered focus, safe environment, and communication.

Conclusions:

• While quantitative empathy scores did not change, qualitative data suggests the simulation enhanced students' understanding of empathy's attributes.
• Students recognized the value of empathetic care and communication. Further research is needed to validate VR 360-degree video as an empathy-enhancing tool.