Investigating the Impact of a Virtual Reality Experience on Medical Student Empathy: Mixed Methods Study

Physician empathy is important not only for improving patient satisfaction and health outcomes but also for increasing physician job satisfaction and protecting against burnout. However, amid concerns over declining empathy levels in medical education, there is a need for innovative teaching approaches that address the empathy gap, a critical element in patient-centered care.

This study aimed to use a mixed-methods analysis to explore the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) intervention versus traditional lecture methods in enhancing empathy among medical students.

Overall, 50 first- and second-year medical students were randomized to either a VR intervention, which simulated patient experiences, or a control group receiving traditional empathy lectures. Both groups watch 2 videos with reflections gathered after each video to capture students' experiential learning. Empathy was measured using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student Version before and after the intervention.

Quantitative analysis revealed significant increases in empathy scores post intervention for both groups (lecture group: mean increase 4.71, SD 11.01; VR group: mean increase 5.6, SD 10.02; P<.001), indicating that both interventions enhanced empathy. The VR group exhibited a significant difference in qualitative empathy coding after the second video (U=165.5; P<.001) compared to the lecture group. Qualitative feedback from the VR group emphasized a more profound emotional and cognitive engagement with the patient perspective than the lecture group.

This study supports the integration of VR into medical education as a complementary approach to traditional teaching methods for empathy training. VR immersion provides a valuable platform for students to develop a deeper, more nuanced understanding of empathy. These findings advocate for further exploration into VR's long-term impact on empathy in clinical practice.