Virtual Reality for Teaching Abscess Incision and Drainage to Medical Students

NCT07813624 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: QZMC-VR-AID-2025-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This completed randomized educational trial evaluated whether virtual reality (VR)-assisted teaching improves medical students' performance in abscess incision and drainage compared with conventional teaching. A total of 120 second-year medical students were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either VR-assisted teaching or conventional teaching. Both groups received 120 minutes of instruction covering the same core learning objectives. The primary outcome was the immediate post-intervention objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) skills score for abscess incision and drainage. Secondary outcomes included theoretical knowledge, learning interest, and course satisfaction.

Conditions

Medical Education

Keywords

Virtual Reality; Medical Education; Surgical Skills; Abscess Incision and Drainage; Objective Structured Clinical Examination; OSCE; Undergraduate Medical Students; Simulation-Based Education

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Immediate Post-Intervention OSCE Skills Score

  Abscess incision and drainage procedural performance was assessed using a 100-point objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) checklist. Each participant was independently assessed by two examiners who were not informed of group allocation. The final OSCE score was calculated as the mean of the two examiner ratings. Scores ranged from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better simulated procedural performance.

  Immediately after completion of the 120-minute teaching intervention

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Theoretical Knowledge Posttest Score

  Immediately after completion of the 120-minute teaching intervention

• Learning Interest Posttest Score

  Immediately after completion of the 120-minute teaching intervention

• Course Satisfaction Total Score

  Immediately after completion of the teaching intervention and assessment

Study Arms (2)

VR-Assisted Teaching

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants received a 120-minute teaching session including a 10-minute orientation, 20-minute faculty demonstration, 30-minute virtual reality training, 40-minute physical hands-on practice, and 20-minute debriefing and feedback.

Behavioral: VR-Assisted Abscess Incision and Drainage Teaching

Conventional Teaching

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants received a 120-minute conventional teaching session including a 10-minute orientation, 20-minute faculty demonstration, 30-minute structured instructor-guided procedural review, 40-minute physical hands-on practice, and 20-minute debriefing and feedback.

Behavioral: Conventional Abscess Incision and Drainage Teaching

Interventions

VR-Assisted Abscess Incision and Drainage Teaching BEHAVIORAL

Participants received a 120-minute teaching session consisting of a 10-minute orientation, 20-minute faculty demonstration, 30-minute virtual reality training, 40-minute physical hands-on practice using an abscess incision teaching model, and 20-minute debriefing and feedback. The VR component used immersive three-dimensional visualization, stepwise task guidance, and error prompts to teach the procedural sequence of abscess incision and drainage.

VR-Assisted Teaching

Conventional Abscess Incision and Drainage Teaching BEHAVIORAL

Participants received a 120-minute conventional teaching session consisting of a 10-minute orientation, 20-minute faculty demonstration, 30-minute structured instructor-guided procedural review, 40-minute physical hands-on practice using an abscess incision teaching model, and 20-minute debriefing and feedback.

Conventional Teaching

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Second-year medical students at Quanzhou Medical College who were enrolled in the surgical-skills curriculum.
• No prior systematic dedicated training in abscess incision and drainage.
• Able to complete the teaching session, immediate OSCE assessment, theoretical knowledge test, and questionnaires.
• Willing to participate and provided written informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• Prior dedicated training in abscess incision and drainage.
• Refusal to participate.
• Inability to complete the assigned teaching session or immediate assessment.
• Inability to complete VR training or course assessment because of obvious dizziness, visual discomfort, movement disorder, or other reasons.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Quanzhou Medical College: lead

Study Sites (1)

Quanzhou Medical College

Quanzhou, Fujian, 362011, China

Location

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Participants and instructors were not blinded because the VR equipment and teaching format were visible. The OSCE examiners were not informed of group allocation. Participants were instructed not to reveal their assigned teaching method during the assessment.
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 4, 2026
• First Posted: September 10, 2026
• Study Start: April 12, 2025
• Primary Completion: May 26, 2026
• Study Completion: May 26, 2026
• Last Updated: September 10, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Beginning after publication of the primary study results, with no predetermined end date, subject to institutional approval.
• Access Criteria: Requests should be submitted to the corresponding author and should include the purpose of the proposed analysis. Access will be considered for scientifically reasonable requests and will require approval by the Medical Ethics Committee of Quanzhou Medical College and the institutional data custodian. Data will be provided in de-identified form under applicable institutional data-governance requirements.

Locations

CN (1)