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The DREAM-VR Study: Does a Virtual Reality Tool Help Dental Students Master Acute Medical Emergencies Better?
Sponsor: Denise van Diermen
Summary
The goal of this prospective educational cross-over study is to compare the competency and self-reported confidence in managing acute medical emergencies in fourth year dental students at the Academic Centre for Dentistry (ACTA) after training with a Virtual Reality (VR) training tool. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Do students who were trained with the VR tool perform better or equally good as students who were trained with a traditional training, in managing acute medical emergencies? * Do students who were trained with the VR tool score higher in self-reported confidence scores? Researchers will compare the group who trained with the VR tool with a group who received a traditional training with a mannikin to see if students from one of these methods performs better at a clinical exam in managing an acute emergency that is played by a trained actor. They will also be compared with themselves, since after 4 weeks the groups will be crossed-over and will receive the other training with different clinical scenarios. Half of the participants will * In week 1-4: * Play a VR scenario and watch peer students play other VR scenario's * Fill out a written peer-feedback form and discuss this with peers * Fill out 3 short online questionnairs, before the training, just before the formative clinical exam and just after the formative clinical exam * Participate in a formative clinical exam with a trained actor * In week 5-8: * Play a scenario with a mannikin and watch peer students play other scenario's\* * Fill out a written peer-feedback form and discuss this with peers * Fill out 2 short online questionnairs, just before the summative clinical exam and just after the summative clinical exam * Participate in a summative clinical exam with a trained actor\* The other half of the participants will participate in the same protocol, but in the reverse order. They start with the traditional training with a mannikin in week 1-4 and cross-over to VR in week 5-8. * The training program with a mannikin and the summative clinical exam is part of the regular curriculum.
Official title: The DREAM-VR Study: Dental Students' Readiness for Emergency Assessment and Management Through Virtual Reality
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
Any - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
140
Start Date
2026-08-31
Completion Date
2026-10-31
Last Updated
2026-09-10
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Interventions
DentEmergencyVR tool
Students are immersed in a virtual dental clinic. They see a virtual patient in the dental chair (avatar). The avatar can be controlled by the teacher to show signs of acute medical emergencies. The student can talk to the avatar, the avatar can talk back. The student can use virtual tools, such as blood pressure device, oximeter, etc. to diagnose the emergency and can apply virtual medication such as epinephrine injection, oxigen, etc. They can play 7 different scenario's: fainting, asthma attack, anaphylaxis, stroke, heart attack, epilepsy, hypoglycemia. They can call 911/112 to ask for an ambulance and can do a medical handover to the ambulance personell.
Mannikin group
Students are told by the teacher that the mannikin is a dental patient that experiences an acute medical emergency, and what the patients' complaints are. The students can use diagnostic devices, such as blood pressure tool and oximeter, to practice. The teacher tells what the outcome of measurement is and the student proposes a diagnosis and treatment plan. They can give the mannikin test medication such as epinehrin or oxigen.
Locations (1)
Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam
Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands