High quality virtual reality (VR) simulations are creating new opportunities in clinical education, providing immersive environments where healthcare students can safely practice, reflect on, and enhance essential clinical skills.
Clinical placements immerse students in real-world healthcare settings, providing invaluable hands-on experience. Through direct patient contact and collaboration with healthcare professionals, students develop essential skills, encounter diverse clinical conditions and reflect on their experiences. This process of experience and reflection is crucial for integrating theoretical knowledge into practical, real-world application (Kolb, 2015), bridging the gap between classroom learning and clinical practice.
Simulations play a crucial role in providing learning experiences. By creating immersive, controlled environments, simulations allow students to safely explore clinical scenarios that mirror real-life challenges. Whether performing a clinical procedure or working through a patient diagnosis, simulations enable students to reflect on their experiences, integrate new knowledge, and build the confidence required for real-world clinical practice. This experiential approach not only strengthens their skills but also helps students become more reflective and adaptive healthcare professionals (Stošić et al., 2017) and not only enhances knowledge retention but also allows students to experience rare or high-risk situations without real-world consequences. As Stošić et al. (2017) highlight, simulations can provide “the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge and skills without the risk of complications that could occur in real contact with patients.”
Virtual reality (VR) simulations can take this experience further, offering high levels of immersion through realistic, interactive environments. With rich sensory elements like high-fidelity visuals, sound, and even haptic feedback, students can simulate complex clinical scenarios that are difficult to replicate in traditional settings. This level of immersion is particularly beneficial in the development of decision-making and critical thinking skills, as learners must respond to dynamic situations in real time.
The effectiveness of VR in clinical education, however, largely depends on the quality of the simulation and their learning design (Radianti et al., 2020).
High-quality VR provides a deeply immersive experience, engaging multiple senses and incorporating interactive and narrative elements that drive meaningful learning. In these environments, students are encouraged to make consequential decisions and collaborate with peers, which supports the development of interpersonal skills such as communication and teamwork. Additionally, good VR design includes personalisation features and flexible scalability, making the simulations adaptable to learners (Radianti et al., 2020).
In contrast, low-quality VR simulations can fail to engage students in meaningful ways, when they feature poor graphics, minimal interaction, or overly rigid structures. This limits students’ ability to develop critical soft skills and can lead to disengagement (Radianti et al., 2020). And, without sufficient interactivity and realistic scenarios, students may struggle to apply the knowledge gained to real-world clinical situations.
To ensure that VR simulations effectively develop clinical skills, there are a few learning design principles that might help when you are creating or selecting these activities (Radianti et al., 2020):
Simulations should be built around the clinical reasoning process, guiding students through steps like information gathering, problem identification, and decision-making. This structured approach helps learners refine their critical reasoning skills while applying theoretical knowledge in practical contexts (Stošić et al., 2017).
Simulations must present patient scenarios that closely mimic real clinical cases. Authenticity in patient interaction and medical conditions helps students build the confidence they need to handle complex clinical challenges and make informed decisions under pressure (Stošić et al., 2017).
VR scenarios should allow students to make meaningful decisions during the learning process. This interactivity not only increases engagement but also promotes the development of problem-solving and decision-making skills essential to clinical practice (Radianti et al., 2020).
Effective VR simulations provide opportunities for students to collaborate with their peers. This fosters the development of essential interpersonal skills such as communication and teamwork, which are critical in healthcare environments (Radianti et al., 2020).
Offering personalisation features, such as adaptable difficulty levels and tailored feedback, ensures that VR simulations meet the needs of learners at various skill levels. This flexibility allows students to engage more effectively and progress at their own pace (Radianti et al., 2020).
High-quality simulations must incorporate rich sensory experiences, including realistic visuals, sound, and haptic feedback. These immersive elements help replicate the complexity of real-world clinical settings, facilitating the development of both practical and decision-making skills (Radianti et al., 2020; Stošić et al., 2017).
At QMUL’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, the integration of immersive learning technologies, particularly VR, plays a crucial role in advancing clinical education.
Launched in 2024, the Faculty’s Immersive Learning Lab acts as a central space where innovative approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment with VR are actively explored. This lab supports groundbreaking work by the Institute of Health Sciences Education (IHSE) and Institute of Dentistry (IoD), while Professor Chie Adachi, Dean for Digital Education, provides strategic guidance through the Digital Education Studio, ensuring alignment with the Faculty’s overarching digital education goals.
A set of new Immersive Learning Lab case studies from IHSE and the Institute of Dentistry highlight the innovative use of VR at FMD:
Immersive learning, especially through VR simulations, offers potential for developing clinical skills. By providing realistic, interactive, and safe environments for practice, VR bridges the gap between theory and practice.
However, continuous innovation in learning design and promoting cycles of experience and practice are essential to fully harness the potential of VR for clinical skills development.
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