Use of virtual reality equipment to assess the manual dexterity of applicants for ophthalmology residency

ABSTRACT Purpose: To assess the microsurgery dexterity outcomes of two sequential training evaluations using virtual reality technology. Methods: This was a multicenter cross-sectional study of all candidates who were accepted as first-year residents at one of six ophthalmology teaching institutions. Residents were subjected to two identical series of standardized, reproducible dexterity tests using virtual reality equipment (Eyesi®): “sequence 1” and “sequence 2.” Each sequence consisted of five difficulty levels that were assessed using a proprietary scoring system. The data were tested for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test. The differences between tests in sequences 1 and 2 were evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: The data did not follow a normal distribution. There were improvements from sequence 1 in all the tests (all p values