Chen Shih-Ying, Fang Ji-Tseng, Hsieh Ming-Ju, Lin Che-Wei, Tung Heng-Hsin, Fujimori Maiko, Tang Woung-Ru
School of Nursing, Chang Gung University and Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Kidney Research Center, Department of Nephrology, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Perspect Med Educ. 2025 Sep 10;14(1):539-548. doi: 10.5334/pme.1684. eCollection 2025.
Virtual Reality (VR) has advanced in medical education, offering enhanced realism and immersion, allowing students to safely practice complex and rare scenarios like cancer truth-telling. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a VR-based cancer truth-telling module.
This experimental study randomly assigned fifth-year medical students to the following groups: in-person communication skills training (iCST), VR, and a combined iCST+VR group. The intervention included a 30-minute video-based mini-lecture followed by practical application. The VR group received the VR truth-telling module, the iCST group received the small-class iCST module, and the iCST +VR group received both the iCST and VR modules. Primary outcomes assessed were cancer truth-telling perspectives, with communication confidence and learning satisfaction as a secondary outcome. Data were collected at baseline, immediately after, and at three and six months post-intervention.
Seventy-nine medical students were enrolled and randomly assigned to the iCST (n = 28), VR (n = 29) and iCST +VR (n = 22) groups. The study findings showed that the iCST+VR group significantly improved in cancer truth-telling perspectives at six months post-intervention. No significant difference was found between iCST and VR groups for cancer truth-telling perspectives. Although communication confidence scores significantly improved across all groups, no differences were found between groups. The iCST group reported higher learning satisfaction compared to other groups, with no significant difference between VR and iCST+VR.
This study demonstrated that VR is as effective as iCST in enhancing cancer truth-telling perspectives and communication confidence, highlighting VR's potential as an innovative tool in medical education.
虚拟现实（VR）在医学教育领域取得了进展，提供了更高的真实感和沉浸感，使学生能够安全地练习诸如癌症告知等复杂和罕见的场景。本研究旨在开发并评估基于VR的癌症告知模块的有效性。
本实验研究将五年级医学生随机分为以下几组：面对面沟通技能培训（iCST）组、VR组和iCST+VR联合组。干预措施包括一段30分钟的视频迷你讲座，随后进行实际应用。VR组接受VR癌症告知模块，iCST组接受小班iCST模块，iCST+VR组同时接受iCST和VR模块。评估的主要结果是癌症告知观点，沟通信心和学习满意度作为次要结果。在基线、干预后立即以及干预后三个月和六个月收集数据。
79名医学生被纳入研究并随机分配到iCST组（n = 28）、VR组（n = 29）和iCST+VR组（n = 22）。研究结果表明，iCST+VR组在干预后六个月的癌症告知观点方面有显著改善。在癌症告知观点方面，iCST组和VR组之间未发现显著差异。尽管所有组的沟通信心得分均显著提高，但组间未发现差异。与其他组相比，iCST组报告的学习满意度更高，VR组和iCST+VR组之间无显著差异。
本研究表明，VR在增强癌症告知观点和沟通信心方面与iCST一样有效，突出了VR作为医学教育创新工具的潜力。
