Virtual Simulation in Undergraduate Medical Education: A Scoping Review of Recent Practice

Abstract

Virtual simulation (VS) as an emerging interactive pedagogical strategy has been paid more and more attentions in the undergraduate medical education. Because of the fast development of modern computer simulation technologies, more and more advanced and emerging VS-based instructional practices are constantly increasing to promote medical education in diverse forms. In order to describe an overview of the current trends in VS-based medical teaching and learning, this scoping review presented a worldwide analysis of 92 recently published articles of VS in the undergraduate medical teaching and learning. The results indicated that 98% of included articles were from Europe, North America, and Asia, suggesting a possible inequity in digital medical education. Half (52%) studies reported the immersive virtual reality (VR) application. Evidence for educational effectiveness of VS in medical students’ knowledge or skills was sufficient as per Kirkpatrick’s model of outcome evaluation. Recently, VS has been widely integrated in surgical procedural training, emergency and pediatric emergency medicine training, teaching of basic medical sciences, medical radiation and imaging, puncture or catheterization training, interprofessional medical education, and other case-based learning experiences. Some challenges, such as accessibility of VS instructional resources, lack of infrastructure, “decoupling” users from reality, as well as how to increase students’ motivation and engagement, should be addressed.

Application of problem-based learning combined with a virtual simulation training platform in clinical biochemistry teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Since virtual experiment teaching breaks geographical and temporal restrictions, students can also arrange learning time outside the class and choose the required learning content independently, without being restricted by the opening hours of a real laboratory ( 13 ). In this study, students in the experimental group who received VS teaching performed significantly better than the control group.…”

“…Virtual simulation technology is a three-dimensional virtual reconstruction of reality in a computer that gives users an immersive experience in multiple senses such as visual, tactile, and auditory, and enables human–computer interaction with good engagement and operability ( 13 ). VS has been widely used in medical teaching or training in surgery, dentistry, emergency, pediatric emergencies, basic medicine, medical radiography, puncture, and catheterization ( 14 – 17 ).…”

“…In recent years, VS has received increasing attention as an emerging interactive teaching strategy in medical education ( 13 ). However, the effectiveness of VS in teaching laboratory medicine has barely been evaluated, and whether the online virtual experiment can achieve the expected teaching effect brings great challenges to practical teaching.…”

Researching the application of virtual reality in medical education: one-year follow-up of a randomized trial

“…The majority of study subjects in the medical area of VR have become physicians through clinical practice, however there is a dearth of research on the education of medical students at the undergraduate level. In addition to surgical technical supervision and tele-rehabilitation research demonstrating that VR may cure certain major illnesses, supporting VR instruction in undergraduate education is essential, since it is an essential component of VR's spread [ 22 ].…”

Virtual lumbar puncture simulators: where are we today?

“…It is worth mentioning that in the literature there are review articles that analyze virtual medical simulators in a general way like in [12], or for specific areas, like in [8] where epidural simulators based on mannequins or virtual are presented. However, this review will focus exclusively on those simulators that were developed to simulate LP.…”