Using Second Life Virtual Simulation Environment for Mock Oral Emergency Medicine Examination.

Schwaab J, Kman N, Nagel R, Bahner D, Martin DR, Khandelwal S, Vozenilek J,
Danforth DR, Nelson R.


From the Department of Emergency Medicine (JS, NK, DB, DRM, SK, RNe), the Center
for Education and Scholarship (RNa), and the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology (DRD), The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; and the Department of
Emergency Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University (JV),
Chicago, IL.

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2011; 18:1-4 © 2011 by the Society for Academic
Emergency Medicine

ABSTRACT: Objectives:  Oral examination is a method used to
evaluate emergency medicine (EM) residents and is a requirement for board
certification of emergency physicians. Second Life (SL) is a virtual
three-dimensional (3-D) immersive learning environment that has been used for
medical education. In this study we explore the use of SL virtual simulation
technology to administer mock oral examinations to EM residents.

Methods:  This was a prospective observational study of EM residents who had previously
completed mock oral examinations, participating in a similar mock oral
examination case scenario conducted via SL. EM residents in this training program
completed mock oral examinations in a traditional format, conducted face to face
with a faculty examiner. All current residents were invited to participate in a
similar case scenario conducted via SL for this study. The examinee managed the
case while acting as the physician avatar and communicated via headset and
microphone from a remote computer with a faculty examiner who acted as the
patient avatar. Participants were surveyed regarding their experience with the
traditional and virtual formats using a Likert scale.

Results:  Twenty-seven EM
residents participated in the virtual oral examination. None of the examinees had
used SL previously. SL proved easy for examinees to log into (92.6%) and navigate
(96.3%). All felt comfortable communicating with the examiner via remote
computer. Most examinees thought the SL encounter was realistic (92.6%), and many
found it more realistic than the traditional format (70.3%). All examinees felt
that the virtual examination was fair, objective, and conducted efficiently. A
majority preferred to take oral examinations via SL over the traditional format
and expressed interest in using SL for other educational experiences (66.6 and
92.6%, respectively).

Conclusions:  Application of SL virtual simulation
technology is a potential alternative to traditional mock oral examinations for
EM residents.


PMID: 21521404 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]