Potential Benefits and Limitations of Using Virtual Reality-Based Patient Simulation Systems in Education

Introduction: The utility of capabilities of technologies as Virtual Reality (VR) and Virtual Patient Simulators (VPS) has provided rich opportunities in medical education. This study endeavored to solicit the interns and final-year medical residents' views on the benefits and potential limitations of applying these technologies in training of diagnostic and surgical procedures. Methods: In this qualitative study with a content analysis approach based on purposeful sampling, 100 interns, and final-year residents from Tehran University of Medical Sciences participated in the academic year 2018. Sampling was continued until data saturation was reached. A researcher-made questionnaire with open-end questions was employed to collect related data. The collected data were analyzed through the content analysis method. Results: The results revealed that the identified benefits generally included increasing educational opportunities, facilitating knowledge transfer, acquisition of experience and skills, technology dynamics, and effective learning. Besides, potential limitations of VPS included program standardization challenges, ethics and professional commitment, content design limitations, the unreliability of artificial diagnostic and surgery processes, cost, and sustainable support constraints. On the other hand, as executive considerations, the direct participation of clinical teams in all processes related to the development, evaluations, and quality assurance of standard programs, as well as receiving continuous feedback from students and finally the need to update programs, have been considered important. Conclusion: Given the benefits, it seems indispensable to plan to invest, develop, and implement VR-based training assistance programs considering ways to reduce potential constraints. More targeted use of this technology, especially during the COVID-19 epidemic to continuity and dynamism of the learning processes is recommended.