Virtual reality in veterinary higher education: enhancing diagnostic skills on equine endoscopy procedures via immersive training

Veterinary sciences are undergoing a paradigm shift in the way students are trained for practical skills since classical educational approaches, based on apprenticeships and wet labs, are no longer applicable due to the increasingly specialized nature of veterinary teaching hospitals, rising costs, and ethical issues. This paper presents and evaluates the effectiveness of a Virtual Reality Training System (VRTS) designed to allow students to train on equine upper airway endoscopy procedures without the risks and pressure associated with manipulating delicate instruments and approaching live animals, as well as avoiding stress for ill horses. Several pathological conditions have been implemented in the VRTS, whose design was carried out in collaboration with domain experts, aiming to improve the students’ diagnostic skills. The VRTS was evaluated against the established, traditional learning approach (based on a classroom lecture with image- and video-based instructional material) on a sample from the population of veterinary students by following a between-subjects design. Training effectiveness was assessed by evaluating the participants performing the endoscopy procedure on alive ill horses. Results suggests that students trained with the devised VRTS showed better control over the endoscopic tool and exhibited higher diagnostic accuracy during the in vivo evaluation than those trained with the traditional learning approach.