Immersive virtual patient simulation compared with traditional education for clinical reasoning: a pilot randomised controlled study

Immersive virtual patient simulation could help medical students in clinical reasoning, but there is a lack of literature on the effectiveness of this method in healthcare learning. A pilot randomised controlled study compared performance (exam score) on a clinical case in immersive virtual simulation to a text for physiotherapy students. In the experimental group, the clinical case was presented by an immersive 360 degrees video that students watched with a standalone headset, whereas the control group used the text only. A survey investigated students' perceptions of the clinical case, their experience of virtual reality, and sense of presence. Twenty-three students in immersive virtual reality had a significantly lower total score than 25 students with a text. This difference appeared in the assessment part of a clinical case. More precisely, it concerned patient history (including a few other elements of assessment and bio-psycho-social factors, p = 0.007). Satisfaction and motivation were strong in the experimental group. In conclusion, the performance was higher in text than in virtual reality situations. Nevertheless, immersive virtual patient simulation remains an interesting tool could train novices to follow history-taking skills of a new patient, as similar to a real-life situation.