Efficacy and Students' Perceptions of Virtual Reality in Clinical Education: A Narrative Review.

Virtual reality (VR) technology has evolved significantly since its inception in the 1950s, now offering advanced, affordable, and immersive experiences that have made it increasingly popular in healthcare education. This narrative review assesses the effectiveness of VR in teaching clinical knowledge, specifically non-technical clinical skills such as clinical reasoning and decision-making, compared to traditional learning methods. The review also evaluates students' perceptions of VR as a learning tool. Our search identified 13 relevant studies, including randomized controlled trials, literature reviews, and a meta-analysis, which predominantly targeted medical, nursing, and physiotherapy students. The results demonstrate that VR often outperforms traditional lecture-based and text-based models in enhancing clinical knowledge and non-technical skills. However, some studies reported mixed or negative outcomes, particularly in areas like patient history-taking and critical thinking skills. Students generally expressed positive attitudes toward VR, citing higher satisfaction, engagement, and motivation compared to traditional learning methods. Despite these promising findings, the review highlights the need for more targeted research, especially in comparing VR with traditional simulation models and evaluating its effectiveness across different healthcare professions. In conclusion, while VR shows great potential in enhancing clinical education, further research is needed to confirm its efficacy and determine its optimal role in medical training.