PurposeVarious smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) applications allow the users to view 360° videos of real or simulated places. A 360° VR is captured with a special camera that simultaneously records all 360° of a scene unlike the standard video recording. An experimental study was conducted where 4th-year medical students participated in a workshop.Patients and methodsThe study was conducted at College of Medicine (COM-J), King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 360° VR videos including, pre-briefing and debriefing sessions were held for the experimental group, whereas group two (control group) was provided with the interactive lecture. A total of 169 undergraduate medical students attend the 4th year at the College of Medicine (KSAU-HS) Jeddah.ResultsThe response rate was 88% for 169 participants, 57 (VR) and 112 (conventional method). The majority of students (93%) thought that VR can be used in medical education. Post-MCQs score (out of 20) was significantly higher in the VR group, when compared to the conventional group (17.4+2.1 vs 15.9+2.9, p-value <0.001). The OSCE score was also better with the VR group (12.9+4.1 vs 9.8+4.2, p-value <0.001). Overall rating of VR satisfaction experience showed a mean of 7.26 of 10.ConclusionVR provides a rich, interactive, and engaging educational context that supports experiential learning-by-doing. In fact, it raises interest and motivation for student and effectively supports knowledge retention and skills acquisition.

Background: Under the urgent circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions of an international scale have resorted to online education methods, exclusive or not. Among those, medical institutions are under double pressure, fighting the pandemic's effects and, at the same time providing efficient clinical training to their residents. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the preparedness of the educational institutions for the e-learning platform transition for the delivery of medical training and also to evaluate the overall satisfaction level of the participants with their e-learning experience.Methods: This is an observational cross-sectional study design. The survey's sample included 300 medical students and residents of multiple training levels and specialties, coming from more than 15 different cities of Saudi Arabia. Filling the questionnaire required specific inclusion criteria and all obtained data were secured by the Saudi Commission of Health specialty. The main objective was to evaluate the quality of e-learning methods provided by medical universities. For the collection of the data, Survey Monkey software was used and the analysis was conducted with SPSS.Results: The study found that the frequency of digital education use increased by ~61% during the coronavirus crisis, while almost 9 out of 10 residents have used some e-learning platform. It was reported that before the pandemic, participants' online training was deemed to be rather ineffective, given the rate of 3.65 out of 10. However, despite the increase in e-learning use after COVID-19, many obstacles arose duringcthe adaptation process. According to our survey: lectures and training sessions were not conducted as per the curriculum (56.33%); both students and instructors' academic behavior and attitude changed (48.33%); engagement, satisfaction, and motivation in class were rated low (5.93, 6.33, and 6.54 out of 10 accordingly), compared to the desired ones. Still, participants accredited e-learning as a potential mandatory tool (77.67%) and pinpointed the qualifications that in their opinion will maximize educational impact.Conclusion: The study concluded that innovative restructuring of online education should be based on defined critical success factors (technical support, content enhancement, pedagogy etc.) and if possible, set priority levels, so that a more permanent e-learning practice is achievable. Also our study confirmed that students were overall satisfied with the e-learning support of the training method.

Background: Shared decision-making (SDM) is considered a patient-centred approach that requires interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals. Teaching interprofessional shared decision-making (IP-SDM) to students preparing for clinical practice facilitates the accomplishment of collaboration. Objective: This review seeks to provide an overview of current IP-SDM educational interventions with respect to their theoretical frameworks, delivery, and outcomes in healthcare. Methods: A scoping review was undertaken using PRISMA. Electronic databases, including OVID-MEDLINE, PubMed, OVID- EMBASE, ERIC, EBSCO-CINAHL, Cochrane Trails, APA PsycINFO, NTLTD, and MedNar, were searched for articles published between 2000 and 2020 on IP-SDM education and evaluation. Grey literature was searched for additional articles. Quality assessment and data extraction were independently completed by two reviewers, piloted on a random sample of specific articles, and revised iteratively. Results: A total of 63 articles met the inclusion criteria. The topics included various SDM models (26 articles) and educational frameworks and learning theories (20 articles). However, more than half of the studies did not report a theoretical framework. Students involved in the studies were postgraduates (22 articles) or undergraduates (18 articles), and 11 articles included both. The teaching incorporated active educational methods, including evaluation frameworks (18 articles) and Kirkpatrick’s model (6 articles). The mean educational intervention duration was approximately 4 months. Most articles did not include summative or formative assessments. The outcomes assessed most often included collaboration and communication, clinical practice and outcome, patients’ preferences, and decision-making skills. Conclusions: Overall, these articles demonstrate interest in teaching IP-SDM knowledge, skills, and attitudes in health professions education. However, the identified educational interventions were heterogeneous in health professionals’ involvement, intervention duration, educational frameworks, SDM models, and evaluation frameworks. Practice implications: We need more homogeneity in both theoretical frameworks and validated measures to assess IP-SDM.