A Virtual Reality 360 Video to Introduce Second-Year Student Pharmacists to Sterile Compounding Prior to Course Activity

Background: Virtual reality (VR) has not been used in pharmacy education when teaching sterile compounding. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the development of a VR 360 video for second-year student pharmacists. The secondary objective was to assess the VR experience, specifically on participants’ knowledge and performance in sterile compounding, as well as the VR video demands and efforts. Methods: This cross-sectional, open-label randomized study developed a VR 360 video introducing sterile compounding, created with Insta360 Pro and GoPro cameras. The video creation required two individuals to record and one individual to edit for approximately 12 hours of creation time. Participants’ knowledge and performance were assessed through ten knowledge questions and the class activity rubric. The NASA Task Load Index (TLX) measured the VR experience demands and efforts for the VR sterile compounding introduction. Results: Of the 98 second-year student pharmacists, 19 consented to the study with 7 in the VR group and 12 controls. Student knowledge increased from 6.33 (0.8) to 8 (1.2) for the VR group and 7 (0.7) to 8 (0.7) for the control group. Performance for the classroom activity was 23.71 (0.3) for the VR group and 22.96 (0.9) for the control group. The NASA TLX values demonstrated positive findings for the VR experience. Conclusion: With the limited study enrollment, comparative analysis between standard materials and the VR 360 video could not be determined. This article describes the creation of a VR sterile compounding 360 video with excerpts included. Future studies to compare traditional materials to VR will be completed in the future.