Virtual reality for teaching abscess incision and drainage to medical students: a randomized educational trial
NCT ID NCT07813624
First seen Sep 10, 2026 ยท Last updated Sep 10, 2026
Summary
This completed randomized educational trial evaluated whether virtual reality (VR)-assisted teaching improves medical students' performance in abscess incision and drainage compared with conventional teaching. A total of 120 second-year medical students were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either VR-assisted teaching or conventional teaching. Both groups received 120 minutes of instruction covering the same core learning objectives. The primary outcome was the immediate post-intervention objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) skills score for abscess incision and drainage. Secondary outcomes included theoretical knowledge, learning interest, and course satisfaction.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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120 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Apr 2025
- Finished
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May 2026
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 25 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Second-year medical students at Quanzhou Medical College who were enrolled in the surgical-skills curriculum. * No prior systematic dedicated training in abscess incision and drainage. * Able to complete the teaching session, immediate OSCE assessment, theoretical knowledge test, and questionnaires. * Willing to participate and provided written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Prior dedicated training in abscess incision and drainage. * Refusal to participate. * Inability to complete the assigned teaching session or immediate assessment. * Inability to complete VR training or course assessment because of obvious dizziness, visual discomfort, movement disorder, or other reasons.
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Quanzhou Medical College
Quanzhou, Fujian, 362011, China
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