Perceptions of Virtual Reality in Cardiac Pharmacy Education

Background: The reformation of how educational content is portrayed is not a new phenomenon. However, the world of pharmacy has been slow to adapt, particularly considering higher education’s declining attendance rates and less engaging lectures. XR can be a great addition to learners’ curriculum, particularly VR, with various applications including adjunctive pharmacotherapy, patient counseling, pharmacist training, and pharmacological modeling. Despite the various barriers VR integration faces, the benefits of VR necessitate its future implementation into our COP curriculum as an augmentative form of learning. Methods: An independent study of 11 students at the UofSC COP was conducted in the Spring 2024 semester. The study consisted of eight modules utilizing different VR applications on the Oculus Rift headset to gain insight into student attitudes and opinions about the use of educational VR, with a focus on cardiology. Students were required to attend all modules, complete a pre- and post-assessment, and contribute thoughtful responses to multiple surveys throughout the course. No formal statistical testing was conducted. Results: The module that students found the most helpful and enjoyable was cardiology. Students noted that the positive aspects of the study included more immersive and engaging experiences with perspective-shifting and real-life simulations, ease of use, skill practice, anxiety reduction, concept reinforcement, and valuable insight into patients' lives. Some negative aspects students noted were the robotic and unrealistic interactions, limited engagement when modules felt repetitive, technical errors, pacing, and insufficient content depth. Overall, students improved their knowledge of XR/VR, counseling patients on cardiac disease states, enjoyment of cardiac pharmacy topics, confidence in empathizing with patients, general stress and anxiety, presentation, and job interview skills. The preference for interactive learning remained high, while other aspects assessed declined. The most common adverse effect experienced was dizziness (45.5%, n=11). Technological errors were the biggest barrier faced throughout the course. Conclusion: Virtual reality is a helpful augmentative learning tool that would add value to our UofSC COP curriculum despite its adverse effects and integration barriers.