Does virtual reality training improve veterinary students’ first canine surgical performance?

Abstract

BackgroundVirtual reality (VR) applications are effective tools in many educational disciplines. A minimally interactive VR application allowing stereoscopic viewing of surgical videos has been developed to aid veterinary students learning to perform surgery. We sought to describe how students used the VR application while preparing to perform their first canine sterilisation surgery and compare surgical performance of students who prepared using traditional methods with students who also used VR.MethodsThird-year veterinary students (n=44) were randomised into control and VR groups in a parallel superiority randomised controlled trial. All were given lectures, videos and skills practice on models. VR group students were also given a VR application and headset to view stereoscopic surgical videos. Blinded raters scored a subset of students (n=19) as they performed their first canine ovariohysterectomy.Results and conclusionsGroups spent similar time preparing to perform surgery, potentially because of the rigour of students’ non-surgical course load. When VR training was added to an already comprehensive surgical skills curriculum, students watched VR videos for a median of 90 min. Groups did not differ in surgical performance scores or time. A larger study of the VR application with prescribed use guidelines would be a helpful subsequent study.

Beyond the classroom: insights into the use of virtual simulation in veterinary education

“…Overall, the students reported finding the VR application a useful resource. However, the students with access to the VR application in addition to more traditional methods of preparation for their first live canine surgery did not show superior performance when compared with students who prepared using traditional methods alone 19 …”

“…Given the current challenges facing veterinary schools and veterinary practices due to the Covid‐19 pandemic, the article by Hunt and colleagues, summarised on p 562 of this issue of Vet Record , 19 is timely. It is also one of the first studies that goes beyond reporting on the usability of VR in veterinary education and explores the educational outcomes of a VR application on students’ first live animal surgeries.…”

“…Hunt and colleagues acknowledge resource constraints as a limiting factor in their study, 19 and it is not uncommon to see this limitation mentioned in veterinary educational research publications. One way in which veterinary educators and practitioners have begun to alleviate these resource deficits is to share learning resource developments and tools so as not to ‘reinvent the wheel’.…”

Impact of the internet on veterinary surgery

“…In addition to the content available on the internet, the development of virtual reality (VR) has proved a useful tool in many educational disciplines ( Hunt, Heydenburg, Anderson & Thompson, 2020 ). Virtual reality apps can assist veterinary students to develop surgical skills.…”

“…However, studies are needed to verify the effectiveness of this teaching method for surgical procedures, such as the studies of VR for the development of endoscopic skills ( McCool, Bissett, Hill, Degernes & Hawkins, 2019 ), microscopy ( Bertram, Firsching & Klopfleisch, 2018 ), or laparoscopic procedures, which also only had a small number of participants ( Fransson, Chen, Noyes & Ragle, 2016 ). In the work of Hunt and collaborators ( Hunt et al., 2020 ), the use of lectures and conventional surgical videos were as effective for the acquisition of surgical skills as the use of VR by 29 veterinary students.…”