Abstract
Purpose :
Indirect and direct ophthalmoscopy have been available in simulator training for several years with significant improvements in clinical education, in 2022 the Eyesi Slit lamp was clinically introduced. We performed a prospective exploratory study to investigate the viability of slit lamp simulation in regards to examination competency for students.
Methods :
Prior to the first clinical introduction of the virtual reality slit lamp, a curriculum was developed which incorporated, device handling, clinical applications and suited to the specific requirements of the Saarland University Medical Center. 50 medical students who attended ophthalmology lectures participated in two training sessions: one with the slit lamp simulator and the other with a real slit lamp. Each session lasted for one hour and constructed equally: an introductory lecture, abstract tasks for device handling, examination of a healthy eye and clinical cases to solve. By incorporating evaluation protocols the efficiency of both sessions were evaluated and statistical analyzed by applying Wilcoxon-matched-pairs test and binomial tests.
Results :
The simulator slit lamp course proved to be significantly more useful than the non-slit lamp based course (p=0,05). The participants realized a significant advantage of the simulation regarding illumination techniques in the context of different pathologies (p= 0,00004). They also found that they were better prepared to recognize and analyze disease patterns in the clinical daily routine with the virtual reality slit lamp (p=0,03). No significant difference could be found for performing a general slit lamp examination with the help of abstract tasks (p=0,76). The examination of a healthy eye could be better learned better by carrying out mutual examinations with the real slit lamp (p=0,00004).
Conclusions :
The study showed that students of various levels of training gained more experience and competence in detecting pathologies with slit lamp illumination techniques after the Eyesi Slit lamp simulation training. They became more proficient in recognizing disease patterns and how to apply it in their daily practice.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.