Better Prepared for Emergencies

In an internal medicine emergency such as a heart attack, quick decisions and swift action are required. Such situations can therefore be a challenge for young doctors. Due to a lack of routine, they often lack the necessary practical skills, their specialist knowledge cannot be called up as quickly as necessary and they find it difficult to make a clinical decision. And, of course, the fact that it may be a matter of life and death adds to the stress.

A Training Programme for Internal Emergencies

Simulation training programmes that work with virtual reality (VR) could provide a remedy in this case. They can now be carried out at low personnel and financial cost and can close this gap in medical studies. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) therefore developed the VR-based training programme for internal medicine emergencies STEP-VR together with ThreeDee GmbH (Munich) a good four years ago.

The programme made its debut as an official part of medical studies at JMU in autumn 2020. The small-group seminar was the first VR-based course for students of human medicine in Germany. Those responsible have now investigated whether STEP-VR actually brings the benefits they had hoped for. They have published the results of their study in the specialist journal Multimedia Systems.

Considerable Learning Success and High Increase in Motivation

Around 230 students were surveyed as part of this study on aspects such as acceptance, side effects, stress experience and subjective learning success. "This showed that the VR-based course met with a high level of acceptance among the students and led to a considerable subjective learning success and a high increase in motivation," says Dr Tobias Mühling, summarising the key findings of the study. The approval ratings and enthusiasm for the teaching method were very high overall, as was motivation in the before-and-after comparison. "The concept seems to strike a chord with the students," says Mühling.

Mühling is a medical specialist and research associate at the Institute for Medical Teaching and Training Research at the University Hospital of Würzburg, where he heads the "Virtual Reality Simulation in Medical Studies" working group. He conducted the study together with Professor Sarah König, Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Medicine and Head of the Institute.

Representative Data Set

In contrast to the recently published study, the use of VR in medical studies has previously only been investigated in small groups and in voluntary events. The Würzburg study is the first to be based on a representative, large data set of medical students, including students who were critical of the technology. Nevertheless, the analysis shows that the VR training was well received by the students. König and Mühling are pleased that the students also attest to their own high level of learning success.

The course has been a permanent part of the curriculum at the University of Würzburg since 2020. According to Mühling, the benefits are obvious: "VR-based teaching methods in medicine - especially in the field of emergency medicine, as in this example - can improve the specialist knowledge and practical skills of prospective doctors and reduce the workload on staff." The method - and the accompanying research - therefore contributes to better patient care and greater resilience among the staff involved in the long term.

Further Applications in Planning

The Institute for Medical Teaching and Training Research at Würzburg University Medicine will therefore continue to closely monitor the use of VR programmes in medical studies in the future. "We are currently working on using the VR programme to record skills in practical examinations. In addition, we want to integrate a multiplayer mode and thus enable interprofessional teaching across locations on the basis of VR," explains Mühling. The latter project is also supported by the University of Würzburg as part of WueDive. "In view of the planned further development of medical studies with an increased focus on interprofessional collaboration, this is a very important step," adds König.

Another scientific study is also already underway. This should then objectively record the learning gains.

Publication

Virtual reality in medical emergencies training: benefits, perceived stress, and learning success. Tobias Mühling, Isabelle Späth, Joy Backhaus, Nathalie Milke, Sebastian Oberdörfer, Alexander Meining, Marc Erich Latoschik & Sarah König. Multimedia Systems (2023), https://doi.org/10.1007/s00530-023-01102-0

Contact

Dr Tobias Mühling, Institute for Medical Teaching and Educational Research, University Hospital Würzburg, muehling_t@ukw.de