• World Neurosurg · Oct 2024

    Early Neurosurgical Education in the Era of Distant Learning: Incorporating Virtual Reality and Cadaveric Specimen Demonstrations.

    • Solomiia Savchuk, Vera Vigo, Swathi Chidambaram, Maximiliano NuÑez, Diana Anthony, Tatiana Jansen, Gary K Steinberg, and Juan C Fernandez-Miranda.
    • Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, 213 Quarry Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
    • World Neurosurg. 2024 Oct 14.

    BackgroundVirtual reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful tool for neuroanatomy education of post-graduated medical trainees. However, its use in early training, such as of undergraduate, medical and physician assistant students, in neurosurgery has not been evaluated. We also have limited insight into how VR may be integrated with traditional teaching methods.MethodsWe created the first of its kind elective course on neuroanatomy for medical students incorporating lecture-style didactics, case-based VR activities and cadaveric dissections. The course ran entirely remotely with each student tuning into class with their own VR headset. We asked the students to self-report their level of confidence with the material and complete knowledge quizzes, which were compared in aggregate between pre- vs post-course, and pre- vs post- each session.Results66.6% of students rated teaching quality of the course as excellent, and 33.3% as satisfactory. Most students (77.7-88.8%) also described the course as having a positive impact on their training. On aggregate analysis, the cohort reported increased levels of confidence in their understanding of neuroanatomy (mean 2.75 vs 5.4, p=0.02), neurosurgical approaches (mean 1.25 vs 5.7, p<0.0001) and the use of VR in neurosurgery (mean 1.5 vs 6.1, p<0.0001). Objectively, the cohort also performed better on post-session assessments, a difference which was statistically significant at p<0.05, in all but the first assessment.ConclusionsIntegration of VR with traditional pedagogical tactics is well received by the learners and contributes to measurable learning outcomes. Our experience informs the future use of VR tools in medical education.Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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