Virtual reality and physical models in undergraduate orthopaedic education, a modified randomised crossover trial
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Orthopaedic surgery is underrepresented in the United Kingdom medical school curriculum, with an average of less than 3 weeks of exposure over the five-year degree. This study evaluates the effectiveness of high-fidelity virtual reality (VR) and physical model simulation in teaching undergraduate orthopaedic concepts.
Methods: A modified randomised crossover trial was used. Forty-nine students were randomly allocated to two groups, with thirty-three finishing the six-week follow-up assessment. All undergraduate medical students were eligible for inclusion. Both groups were given introductory lectures, before completing a pre-test with questions on the principles of fracture fixation and osteotomy. Each group then received a lecture on these topics with the same content, but one was delivered with VR and the other with physical models. Both groups completed the post-course assessments. Knowledge was assessed by way of questionnaire immediately before, immediately after, and six-weeks after.
Results: In the VR group, participants improved their post-training score by 192.1% (U=32; p< 0.00001). In the physical models group, participants improved their post-training scores by 163.1% (U=8.5; p< 0.00001). Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in the total means of post-training test scores between the VR and the physical models study groups (U=260.5; p=0.4354).
Conclusion: Both VR and physical models represent valuable educational adjuncts for the undergraduate medical curriculum. Both have demonstrated improvements in immediate and long-term knowledge retention of key orthopaedic concepts.
Methods: A modified randomised crossover trial was used. Forty-nine students were randomly allocated to two groups, with thirty-three finishing the six-week follow-up assessment. All undergraduate medical students were eligible for inclusion. Both groups were given introductory lectures, before completing a pre-test with questions on the principles of fracture fixation and osteotomy. Each group then received a lecture on these topics with the same content, but one was delivered with VR and the other with physical models. Both groups completed the post-course assessments. Knowledge was assessed by way of questionnaire immediately before, immediately after, and six-weeks after.
Results: In the VR group, participants improved their post-training score by 192.1% (U=32; p< 0.00001). In the physical models group, participants improved their post-training scores by 163.1% (U=8.5; p< 0.00001). Overall, there was no statistically significant difference in the total means of post-training test scores between the VR and the physical models study groups (U=260.5; p=0.4354).
Conclusion: Both VR and physical models represent valuable educational adjuncts for the undergraduate medical curriculum. Both have demonstrated improvements in immediate and long-term knowledge retention of key orthopaedic concepts.
Date Issued
2020-08-11
Date Acceptance
2020-07-21
Citation
Orthopedic Research and Reviews, 2020, 12, pp.97-104
ISSN
1179-1462
Publisher
Dove Medical Press
Start Page
97
End Page
104
Journal / Book Title
Orthopedic Research and Reviews
Volume
12
Copyright Statement
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Subjects
1103 Clinical Sciences
Publication Status
Published