Interactive 360-degree Videos for Teaching Gut Endoscopy to Undergraduate Medical Students

Overview

The study is a randomized-controlled cross-over study to evaluate the impact of integrating simulation-based teaching for gastrointestinal endoscopy for medical students. It will establish a novel pedagogy for teaching in a wide array of disciplines in healthcare settings. Building on an innovative virtual teaching platform, investigators will design interactive, immersive 360 virtual reality videos on Video-Vox with a facilitated structured debriefing platform in endoscopy teaching. In medical teaching, clinical exposure is indispensable to students' learning process. However, some premises are not easily accessible, such as operating theatres and endoscopy suites. By using 360 virtual reality technology, participants can be immersed in online screen-based learning in health situations that are difficult to visit in the real world. The evident advantages of this technology will pave the way to novel approaches to medical education and training. Other real-life clinical settings, such as resuscitation scene in wards, surgical procedures in operation theatres, patient care in intensive care units, can adopt similar teaching platforms for the learner to get a 'first-hand' experience of the situation. The learning process is further reinforced by time-stamps and inquiry-based debriefing. This project will set a springboard for innovative pedagogy for undergraduate teaching in the medical curriculum.

The study would be conducted at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong, China. Second year students were recruited from the HKU's 6-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program, with a cohort size ranging from 250-300 each year at the time this study. The first two years of this program comprise of predominately pre-clinical teaching and is followed by clinical teaching in subsequent years. GI endoscopy teaching for 2nd year students was revised in 2021 to include a lecture and on-site visit to an vacant endoscopy suite without demonstrating actual clinical procedures, to align with the Faculty's initiative for early clinical exposure. Novice learners will be randomly divided into two groups in a 1:1 ratio. One group received simulation first, followed by conventional teaching (SIM-first); while the other received conventional teaching first, followed by simulation (CON-first). Three domains were assessed to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions: perceived clinical competency, simulation effectiveness, and student satisfaction. These domains will be assessed after each teaching activity.