A Randomised Controlled Trial of Spaced Practice versus Massed Training in Immersive Virtual Reality Hip Arthroplasty Simulation

Description

In this presentation, orthopedic registrar Tom Edwards from Imperial College London discusses innovative training methods aimed at enhancing surgical skills through immersive virtual reality (IVR). He highlights the reduced hands-on operating experience faced by modern trainees due to the pandemic and emphasizes the growing evidence supporting IVR for training both open and laparoscopic procedures. The crux of the research is to investigate the optimal timing of these trainings, particularly if short, daily sessions or spaced repetition is more effective for skill acquisition and retention.



The study evaluates the anterior approach to total hip arthroplasty, a challenging procedure, using medical students as participants with no prior arthroplasty experience. They were randomized into two learning groups: one receiving daily training over four days and the other undergoing spaced training once a week for four weeks.



Edwards outlines the methodology, indicating assessments of procedural errors, time taken, prompts needed, and hand motions. The results demonstrate that while the daily group showed rapid improvement, their skills declined at one week and one month post-assessment. Conversely, the weekly group had a slower initial acquisition but exhibited better retention of skills over time.



The presentation concludes with implications for clinical applications in designing VR curricula, as VR technology becomes more accessible. Edwards discusses the possibility of using this data to optimize surgical education by balancing intense learning sessions versus spaced repetitions to enhance retention.



The discussion includes a Q&A session with insights on the future potential of training revisions and expert benchmarking to set performance baselines.

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