Integrating immersive 360-degree virtual reality into medical education: enhancing clinical decision-making in obstetric emergencies

Immersive 360-degree virtual reality (VR) training is an innovative approach in medical education, providing an interactive, risk-free environment that enhances learning through experiential engagement. This study investigates the integration of immersive 360-degree VR into medical education to foster clinical reasoning and decision-making awareness in obstetric emergencies, focusing on eclampsia—a rare, life-threatening condition characterized by seizures in women with preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder that can lead to multiorgan damage. Forty-six fifth-year medical students (31 males, 15 females; mean age: 23.47 ± 2.62 years) participated in a pre–post study using an immersive 360-degree VR learning module, showing significant improvements in knowledge (t = 3.681, p = 0.001) with a moderate effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.54, 95% confidence interval: 0.23–0.85). The results revealed statistically significant gains in diagnosing and managing eclampsia, particularly in seizure control and hypertension treatment. A satisfaction survey using the system usability scale (SUS), based on a 7-point Likert scale, indicated good usability (mean SUS score: 73.33 ± 18.00) of the VR module, with students highlighting realistic visuals, interactivity, and decision-making simulations as key contributors to their learning experience. The SUS findings further indicated that the VR module provided an effective and user-friendly learning environment, underscoring its potential as a scalable supplementary tool to traditional medical training. These findings suggest that immersive VR may help bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application in obstetric emergencies and may serve as a complementary learning approach within modern medical education.