Stepping into the Virtual Realm: Examining the Utility of Non-Immersive VR on Medical Residents' Self-Efficacy, Performance, and Satisfaction

Central Venous Catheterization (CVC) is conducted in more than 5 million patients annually in the United States. Currently, CVC theoretical knowledge is typically taught with didactic lectures with minimal assessment of knowledge before simulation training and clinical environment. To assess CVC theoretical knowledge, virtual reality (VR) can develop residents’ surgical skills and can provide feedback on performance. While all types of VR can be used to assess improvements in residents’ knowledge prior to simulation training, few studies have compared the impact of non-immersive VR on improving resident knowledge. The current study was developed to identify the utility of a non-immersive CathSim VR on improvements in resident CVC theoretical knowledge, self-efficacy, and satisfaction when compared to a traditional multiple-choice assessment This was completed through an empirical investigation with 34 medical residents. The results showed that when compared to a traditional multiple-choice assessment, the non-immersive CathSim VR assessment led to improvements in self-efficacy and potentially better learning experience. Meanwhile, results also showed that there were no differences in assessment score, number of attempts, and overall satisfaction. Thus, we can conclude that non-immersive VR has the potential to be more effective than traditional multiple-choice test in improving self-efficacy and is as effective for residents’ assessment score, number of attempts, and overall satisfaction.