preview

Ophthalmoscope Simulation Paper

Better Essays

Discussion

In an era where generations are becoming increasingly tech-savvy with children growing up on video games, and one in which patient safety is of foremost concern, the idea of incorporating virtual reality into medical education continues to be an extremely promising one. However, such simulators are expensive to add to the curriculum and there is a learning curve for adjusting to learning clinical and surgical skills in such a manner. Therefore, it is critical that every proposed tool be thoroughly evaluated and validated before any sort of implementation is put forth in order to confirm that these educational tools will be more effective than the current system. We compared the performance of more experienced residents and fellows …show more content…

This provided users the necessary exposure to become acquainted with the interface in order to accurately obtain data without placing too much of a burden on participants . There were several variables that were chosen to be measured during the course of the session based on knowledge of a standard indirect ophthalmic exam. These included duration of exam, total combined score on both eyes, light exposure time and score, Retinal examination score, and Retinal structures found. The retinal examination score accounted for the percent of the retina examined along with an analysis of the per quadrant examination (ST, SC, SN, CT, CC, CN, IT, IC, IN.) Overall, residents/fellows performed the cases faster (p<.0001), and can also be seen when stratified per quadrant. The trainees consistently examined a greater percentage of all quadrants and were able to perform a much more comprehensive exam than the medical students. This is easily explained by the fact that the trainees have greater experience in performing the complete exam. The fact that the retinal exam was found to be significant across all levels while the retinal structures was not could be because it is much easier to identify abstract shapes since they are completely artificial and prominent in the simulation as compared with performing a complete indirect ophthalmic …show more content…

In accordance with Van Nortwick et al., there is still a need for reliability validation studies to determine whether results are consistent across multiple measures. The fact that trainees had less variability in their performance as compared with medical students, potentially indicating greater competency, serves as a basis for reliability testing. Additionally, concurrent and predictive validity for the simulator are necessary to respectively evaluate how well the performance on the simulator compares to performance using previous methods, as well as how accurate the simulation sessions predict performance in the “real world.”
The Eyesi indirect ophthalmoscope simulator is a promising educational tool. However, the best way to format a curriculum involving the simulation has yet to be established. According to Gallagher on the use of virtual reality simulation for surgical training, virtual reality training is most successful if it is done on an interval basis as opposed to a short period of intensive practice. It is unclear whether indirect ophthalmoscopy would follow a similar trend and when it would be best introduced to students. Further research is warranted in order to address these

Get Access