Student Experiences of Virtual Simulation Outside the Classroom: A Scoping Review

Virtual simulations are a promising teaching strategy, but little is known about the barriers to their use. This scoping review examines health professions students' experiences with asynchronous virtual simulations outside traditional classrooms, highlighting key barriers, benefits and outcomes. We included 34 reports. Barriers included technical difficulties, time and motivation constraints, limited feedback or interaction, complex structure, and lack of realism. Faculty also struggle with adapting to digital methods due to time constraints, inadequate training, and a reliance on lecture-based approaches. Identified benefits included learning, realism, flexibility and accessibility, improved scores, psychological safety, and improved communication and teamwork through immersive scenarios. Key outcomes included cognitive gains, positive reactions, perceived readiness for practice, and performance improvements. Overall, the review underscores the promise of asynchronous virtual simulations while emphasizing the need for further research to refine their design and implementation across diverse health programs.