Educational benefits of pre-class videos and viewing perspectives on ultrasound-guided central venous catheterization training: a prospective randomized controlled trial

Training in ultrasound-guided central venous catheterization (CVC) is constrained by limited hands-on opportunities and instructor availability. Pre-class instructional videos may improve procedural learning; however, the optimal filming perspective—first-person point-of-view (POV) versus face-to-face (F-t-F) side-view—remains unascertained. We compared the effects of video perspectives on ultrasound-guided CVC training-related skill acquisition. This prospective, randomized, single-blind study included 70 postgraduate physicians in pre-class POV video (n = 23), pre-class F-t-F side-view video (n = 23), or control (no pre-class video, n = 24) groups. Participants completed pre-training assessments, one-on-one hands-on training, and post-training evaluations, with outcomes including a 17-item checklist score (0–34, Competency-Based Assessment Tool for Ultrasound-Guided Central Venous Catheter Placement), global rating (1–10), completion time, and self-rated confidence analyzed with the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests with Bonferroni correction. Baseline demographics were comparable. The POV group showed the highest pre-training median global rating score, which significantly exceeded that of other groups (p < 0.001). Both video groups had significantly higher pre-training self-rated confidence than controls (p = 0.01), without differences between POV and F-t-F (p = 0.553). Overall time to pre-training assessment completion did not differ significantly among groups in the primary analysis; post-hoc as-treated analysis showed significantly faster task completion in POV compared with the control group (p = 0.007). Pre-training videos significantly enhanced training efficiency. POV and F-t-F videos improved learners’ competency and confidence than in controls. Overall procedural efficiency did not differ significantly between POV and F-t-F; the POV group achieved higher global rating scores, suggesting a potential advantage of the first-person perspective. The trial was retrospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT06947733, registered on 23 April 2025).