Virtual Reality Based Rapid Cycle Deliberate Practice for Faculty Maintenance of Procedural Competency

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Emergency Medicine
• Simulation Training

Background:

• Emergency Medicine faculty require consistent methods to maintain procedural competency.
• Inadequate faculty proficiency impacts patient safety and resident education.
• Traditional procedural practice is limited by unpredictable patient encounters and resource availability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare procedural competency improvement between faculty-mentored and virtual reality-mentored practice of pericardiocentesis.
• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of VR for maintaining skills in rare, high-stakes procedures.

Main Methods:

• A pilot randomized trial involving 15 Emergency Medicine faculty.
• Participants were randomized to faculty-mentored or virtual reality-mentored pericardiocentesis practice.
• Skills were assessed using a task trainer at baseline and 2-6 weeks post-intervention, analyzed with ANCOVA.

Main Results:

• Fifteen participants were randomized (8 intervention, 7 control); 14 completed the study.
• No significant difference in post-training pericardiocentesis scores was found between VR and traditional practice groups (p=0.87).
• Observed differences were small, suggesting noninferiority of VR-based deliberate practice.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality deliberate practice may be a feasible and effective method for faculty to maintain competency in rare, high-stakes procedures.
• While this pilot study had limitations due to sample size, results support VR as a valuable training tool.
• Further research is warranted to confirm these findings in larger cohorts.