VR shown to improve medical students' understanding of head and neck anatomy

A new study published in OTO Open finds that a standardized virtual reality (VR) educational experience improved medical students' knowledge and confidence in head and neck anatomy—and did so regardless of students' prior experience with VR or video gaming.

"The anatomy of the head and neck is one of the most spatially complex regions in medicine. Virtual reality gives learners the ability to step inside that anatomy and explore it in three dimensions in a way that textbooks and static images simply cannot. What's also exciting is that these immersive learning tools can be accessible and beneficial for all medical trainees," said corresponding author Michael Yim, MD, Otolaryngology Program Director and Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery at LSU Health Shreveport.

This pilot study evaluated whether a commercially available VR platform could serve as an effective supplement to traditional cadaveric anatomy training. Twenty-one medical students, all of whom had previously completed a formal cadaveric head and neck anatomy course, participated in a guided, immersive VR session.

The VR platform received high ratings from participants for control, sensory immersion, and realism, with minimal distraction or frustration reported. Standardized assessments of workload and presence—the NASA Task Load Index and Presence Questionnaire—confirmed that students were able to engage effectively with the virtual environment with low stress and high perceived success, even those with no prior VR experience.

The authors note that this is the first study to evaluate a VR adjunct specifically for head and neck anatomy education and call for larger, multi-institutional studies and prospective trials comparing VR-based learning directly to conventional teaching methods.

More information:
Ivan Alvarez et al, Next Dimension Medical Education: A Pilot Study Exploring Virtual Reality in Head and Neck Anatomy, OTO Open (2026). DOI: 10.1002/oto2.70217

Provided by American Academy of Otolaryngology