Development and Evaluation of Virtual Reality Simulation-Based Interprofessional Education among Medical Students from Japan: An Observational Study. Evaluation 1, results were compared using the self-administered questionnaire surveys conducted before and after the lectures.

The evolution of team-based medical care necessitates effective interprofessional collaboration (IPC). However, implementing IPC without proper interprofessional education poses challenges. Using virtual reality (VR), which is being explored as a tool for multidisciplinary learning, this study integrates collaborative scenario simulations into demonstration lectures across six medical and welfare training departments in a Japanese training institution for healthcare professionals. Uniform content is delivered, assessing students’ IPC awareness before and after the lectures. This enables the exploration of the impact of three different viewing devices—VR, personal computers (PC) and classroom screens—on educational outcomes. Significant post-lecture improvement was observed in all questionnaire items. When comparing viewing devices, the VR group outperformed the PC group in terms of “problem-solving skills” and “respectful attitude.” The limited availability of VR-based IPC educational materials in Japan highlights VR’s effectiveness in fostering collaboration.

以团队为核心的医疗照护模式的演进，亟需高效的跨专业协作（interprofessional collaboration, IPC）。然而，未配合恰当跨专业教育的跨专业协作实践往往面临诸多实施挑战。本研究借助正被探索用于多学科学习的虚拟现实（virtual reality, VR）技术，将协作场景模拟融入日本某医疗专业人员培训机构的六个医疗与福祉培训部门的演示授课环节。授课内容保持统一标准，并对学员在授课前后的跨专业协作认知水平开展评估，以此探究虚拟现实、个人电脑（personal computers, PC）及教室屏幕三种不同观看设备对教学成效的影响。
研究结果显示，所有问卷题项在授课后均呈现显著提升。对比不同观看设备的表现可见，虚拟现实组在「问题解决能力」与「尊重态度」两个维度上均优于个人电脑组。当前日本境内基于虚拟现实的跨专业协作教育素材较为稀缺，这一现状进一步彰显了虚拟现实在促进协作能力培养上的有效性。