College of Veterinary Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, Tennessee, USA
Noah's Westside Animal Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
Vet Rec. 2020 May 30;186(17):562. doi: 10.1136/vr.105749. Epub 2020 Mar 18.
Virtual 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.
Third-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.
Groups 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.
虚拟现实 (VR) 应用在许多教育学科中都是有效的工具。我们开发了一个最小交互 VR 应用程序，允许对手术视频进行立体观看，以帮助兽医学生学习手术。我们旨在描述学生在准备进行第一次犬绝育手术时如何使用 VR 应用程序，并比较使用传统方法准备的学生与同时使用 VR 的学生的手术表现。
在一项平行优势随机对照试验中，将三年级兽医学生（n=44）随机分为对照组和 VR 组。所有学生都接受了讲座、视频和模型技能练习。VR 组学生还获得了 VR 应用程序和耳机，以观看立体手术视频。盲法评估者对一组学生（n=19）进行了评分，这些学生正在进行他们的第一次犬卵巢子宫切除术。
两组在准备手术方面花费的时间相似，这可能是由于学生非手术课程负担的严格性。当 VR 培训增加到已经全面的手术技能课程中时，学生观看 VR 视频的中位数时间为 90 分钟。两组在手术表现评分或时间上没有差异。对具有规定使用指南的 VR 应用程序进行更大规模的研究将是一项有益的后续研究。
