The Use and Perceptions of Virtual Reality Simulator Training for Ophthalmological Surgical Education

Background: The expansion of virtual reality (VR) headsets, haptic technology, and virtual education has provided educational innovators with a high-fidelity alternative to traditional surgical training. Purpose: To characterize the utilization and perspectives regarding the use of virtual reality simulator training in U.S.-based ophthalmic residency programs for surgical education. Methods: An anonymous online questionnaire hosted by Qualtrics (Silver Lake, Seattle, WA) was emailed to ophthalmology faculty through the Association of University Professors Ophthalmology (AUPO) listservs. They were asked if virtual reality simulators were used in their program. Participants who answered “yes” were asked questions regarding the specific virtual reality simulators used, hours spent on virtual reality simulator training by residents, and strategies to improve integration of virtual reality simulator training into their program. Participants who answered “no” were asked questions regarding barriers to the integration of virtual reality simulator training. Results: A total of 57 ophthalmology faculty responded from 45 institutions. The majority of participants indicated “yes” to using VR simulators (n = 43 75%), with EyeSi being the most popular (n = 40 93%), followed by HelpMeSee (n = 1 2%). Most participants agreed that the number of resident complications has decreased in their program (n = 26 61%) and the mean time for a resident to complete a cataract procedure has decreased as well (n = 25 58%). For the participants without VR simulators at their program, most said that the simulators being too expensive was the biggest barrier (n = 12 86%), followed by lack of familiarity with VR simulator training (n = 6 43%) and lack of time for residents and faculty (n = 2 14%). Conclusion: Most participants surveyed agreed that VR simulator training is a helpful tool for ophthalmological surgical education. When integrated into surgical curricula, it has increased resident confidence during live surgery and has led to better surgical outcomes. However, financial and time constraints continue to be barriers to the integration of VR.