Exploring Virtual Reality as a Tool for Enhancing Teaching and Learning Anatomy to Medical Students: A Feasibility and Acceptability Study

Background

Virtual reality (VR) provides an immersive, interactive 3D learning environment with increasing use in medical education. It benefits surgical training and, increasingly more so in anatomy education, particularly where access to human body dissection is limited. Although VR can enhance engagement and knowledge retention, concerns remain regarding usability, feasibility and cybersickness. This study explores the acceptability of VR for anatomy learning among medical students with ongoing access to traditional anatomy laboratories.

Approach

A qualitative cross-sectional pilot study was conducted with 38 medical students at the ASSERT Simulation Centre, University College Cork. Participants took part in a guided VR session using human anatomy software. Afterwards, they completed an online survey assessing ease of use, enjoyment, immersion, educational usefulness, interaction, understanding, intention for future use and cybersickness. The survey was adapted from two validated questionnaires. Feature engineering combined related items into eight dimensions for streamlined analysis and visualisation.

Evaluation

Results showed high acceptance and enthusiasm for VR. All participants reported enjoying the experience, finding it educationally useful, and that it enhanced their understanding. Between 95% and 98% found VR easy to use, immersive and reported ease in interacting with 3D objects. Although 8% experienced cybersickness, all expressed interest in future VR-based education. Potential novelty bias must also be considered. VR is a feasible and well-accepted tool for anatomy education, even among students with ongoing access to anatomy dissection facilities. With minimal cybersickness and high enjoyment, engagement and immersion, VR shows strong potential as a complementary educational method. Further research should explore long-term learning outcomes in terms of knowledge retention and clinical implementation strategies within educational institutions.